Back to Back
by Dannrose
Summary: Hiccup and Snotlout's lives took a very different path, survival forcing them closer together than they might ever have been. Protecting and supporting each other, they endured for years until they could finally make the journey home. AU.
1. The Begining

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello all and though this may look like another new story, it's more of a tester. It's an idea I had for a new AU and I wanted to see what people thought of it first. I'm still writing my other fics but I wanted to get this idea down while it was still fresh, its more Hiccup/Snotlout brotherly stuff but a different sort of AU from my other stories. For the purposes of this AU, Valka wasn't carried off by Cloudjumper to the Sanctuary, hence why she's around when she shouldn't be.**_

 _ **Please give me feedback on this as I'm curious to see what people think of the possibilities of this AU and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I do not own any aspect of How to Train Your Dragon.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 1  
**

Darkness was across Berk.

Night had fallen along with a sky of thick clouds, blocking out the moon and the stars and throwing a shadow over the island and the village that stubbornly held out upon its cliffs.

Within one of the huts, in the safety of its warm, homely glow, two boys laughed happily as they chased each other around the floor. A slender, dark-haired woman, sat in a chair nearby sewing peacefully, a gentle smile graced her lips as she listened to the boys playing.

"I'm gonna catch you Snotlout!"

"No way Hiccup!"

There was a clatter as the younger of the two accidently toppled a chair, the woman rolled her eyes and spoke with a sigh, "Snotlout, be careful in the house!"

The dark-haired boy shuffled guiltily, "Sorry Aunt Valka."

She easily stood and straightened the chair, "No harm done dear, just remember that you can't careen around inside the way you do outside. Thor knows that Hiccup topples enough furniture without you helping."

"I do not!"

The older of the boys folded his arms and pretended to pout as Snotlout giggled, Valka shook her head fondly, "You look just like your father when you do that."

Instantly, Hiccup grinned and stood straighter, trying hard to look taller, "Really Mama?"

A sudden crash startled them all and Valka had both boys behind her in a flash. In the doorway stood a tall, menacing man and it was obvious that he was not there for any good reason. Valka carefully took a sword from one of her husband's nearby storage barrels and levelled it at the intruder, "I will not give you another warning, leave now."

The stranger made a scoffing sound and stepped into the hut, Valka spoke urgently to the children, "Hiccup, Snotlout, stay back!"

The man charged and Valka swung her weapon, nicking the man's arm and yelling as she did so, "STOICK!"

The man snarled in pain and swung his fist at her, striking her solidly in the head. She staggered in a daze and collapsed right in front of a barrel where the two boys had taken cover, Hiccup's terrified eyes stared at her, "Mama?"

She looked him straight in the eye, "Hiccup, take Snotlout and find your dad, okay?" He hesitated and she repeated herself in a more commanding voice, "Okay!?"

The boy nodded and grabbed his cousin's hand, the man saw them bolting for the door and moved to grab them but Valka was up and slashed the sword down his back.

The man's scream ringing in their ears, the cousins ran.

* * *

Outside was chaos.

Roars and yells filled the air as dragons swooped overhead. A dragon raid had started in the last few moments and was already in full swing, blazing buildings were being swiftly put out by firefighting crews as others sprinted to and fro with weapons and traps to combat the beasts.

Hiccup was lost in the confusion, he couldn't understand anything of what was happening and he could hear Snotlout sobbing with fear as he gripped his older cousin's hand tightly. In Hiccup's case, his complete focus on finding his Papa overruled everything else, he had no idea what was going on but his papa could fix it, he always did. Pulling the younger boy along, Hiccup ran through the madness, yelling out with all his might, "PAPA! PAPA!"

His cries were lost in the clamour of battle and Vikings were too focused on defending their home to notice the two small boys, Hiccup spotted the all-important form of his Papa at one of the catapult towers and he ran that way still yelling, "PAPA!"

Suddenly, he was yanked upwards and he heard Snotlout screaming in terror, he looked upwards right into the face of the man who'd broken into the house and screamed as well. The man sneered and began running away towards the edge of the village, holding the boys tightly in his arms. Snotlout howled for his own papa and Hiccup kicked and struggled practically screeching, "PAPA, HELP!"

Their cries went unheard and the man took them further and further away from the village and away from their families into the darkness.

* * *

Hiccup woke with a jolt as he snapped out of his nightmarish memory.

He panicked for a few moments, not remembering where he was, then, he registered the low rumble of Toothless breathing beside him and the comfortingly familiar pressure on his back. Slowly, he returned his breathing to normal as he calmed down and he slowly sat up, he felt movement behind him and smiled.

As always, if he woke up, Snotlout woke up.

The younger cousin leaned back against Hiccup's back, "You had the dream again."

It was a statement of fact but Hiccup answered anyway, the way he had done so many times before, "Yeah."

"Me to."

Snotlout sighed and Hiccup placed his hand on the scarred back of his cousin's hand comfortingly, "We'll get back there Snotlout, one day."

He knew that the younger one was smiling, "I know."

Toothless pushed his face up to Hiccup's and rumbled in concern, the boy smiled and ran his hand over the Night Fury's heavily scarred snout, "It's okay bud, just some bad memories of when we were taken."

The dragon growled in understanding and Hiccup knew that a similar conversation was playing out behind him between Snotlout and Hookfang, a Monstrous Nightmare.

How he and Snotlout had formed such close bonds with these dragons when it had just been them on their own for years Hiccup had no idea. Years of him and Snotlout imprisoned together, bound together, worked together, beaten together, it had changed them. They knew everything about each other, how they worked, how they thought, even the distance between them on the rare occasions they were separated. When one woke up, the other woke up, when one had nightmares, so did the other, they had spent so long protecting and supporting each other they weren't sure what would happen if one of them died. It was how they'd survived ever since the night they'd been stolen from their home, the home they were trying to get back to now that they'd finally escaped their years of captivity.

Hiccup briefly rubbed his forehead against Toothless' snout and lay down to sleep once more, feeling Snotlout do the same thing behind him. At the same time, the two cousins closed their eyes and drifted into shallow sleep.

They slept back to back, the way they'd done for years.

* * *

 _ **PS-So there we go, one tester chapter for a new AU. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully see you soon.**_


	2. The Long Road Home

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome. So, as you may have guessed, I received a good enough response to try pursue this AU further and have produced another chapter. Now, because of the nature of the AU, there is likely to be things mentioned or dealt with throughout this story that people may be affected by. I'm not intending to go into graphic and gory details nor start writing mature scenes (though things may be hinted at depending on how I decide to progress the story) but please bear that in mind. I'll try and give warnings in the Author's Notes before the chapters if required and I have no intention of going above the 'Teen' rating.**_

 _ **Thank you those who've shown an interest in this AU and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 _Unknown Location-Present  
_

Hiccup carefully ran his hand along Toothless' scales, his fingers feeling every scar and remnant of old injuries.

The Night Fury rumbled in pleasure, enjoying his rider's attentions and looking very different from the vicious killer he'd once been. Another, deeper, rumble came from Hookfang as Snotlout did the same with him, the younger cousin gently massaged a deeply scarred area just behind the Nightmare's head and Hookfang purred as it took away the dull ache that often occurred there.

Hiccup leaned back and instantly felt his cousin's back right where it was supposed to be, Snotlout didn't even react to the contact as he carried on with Hookfang's massage while Toothless placed his head in Hiccup's lap, asking for more attention. The boy obliged but idly wondered, as he had several times before, if he and Snotlout would've been so at ease with so much contact if it hadn't been forced upon them from the very start?

* * *

 _The Island of Berk-Years ago_

The man carried Hiccup and Snotlout right across Berk and to a strange boat hidden on a far shore.

The two cousins had sobbed and howled the entire way, hoping that someone would hear them, get them away from this man and safely home again. As the man boarded his vessel, he tossed the boys roughly to the deck where they landed with a yelp. He thrust his face right into their faces and snarled ferociously, "Shut it brats! Keep crying and I'll give you something to really wail about!"

They instantly ceased all noise, their tearstained faces frozen in terror, and their kidnapper nodded in satisfaction, "Good."

He grabbed Snotlout and wrenched him away, the boy gave a whimper but stayed quiet and the man pointed threateningly at Hiccup, "Don't move or I'll make this one suffer for it."

Young as he was, Hiccup got the message and he stayed completely still as the man bound his cousin. Snotlout gave some more whimpers and the odd sob as it happened, but fear of his captor stopped him from crying again, even if it didn't stop the tears. Once Snotlout was secure, it was Hiccup's turn and before long, both of them were tightly bound. The man frowned thoughtfully for a moment then shoved them both back to back and tied them together, once finished he spoke warningly, "Now don't even think about giving me any trouble, we've got a long voyage ahead of us and you don't want to know what happens when I get mad."

He turned his back on them and quickly set about prepping his small boat to sail, bound together as they were, Hiccup could feel Snotlout shaking with suppressed sobs. Though his hands were tied, he found the younger cousin's and held them, speaking softly as he did so, "Snotlout."

The other boy sniffed quietly, "I want Papa."

Hiccup was far too young to know what to say, he was in no better state than his cousin and wanted nothing more than weep and sob until his own Papa came to save him. All he did was grip Snotlout's hand tighter and cry silently.

* * *

Just as the man said, the voyage was long.

For the first few days, the cousins cried, the next week, they prayed to the gods that their families would rescue them, the next month, they slowly realised that it may never happen.

He took them away from Berk, past the homes and islands of the other tribes and beyond the Archipelago, heading southwards to the distant world of empires and continents. Of course, the two boys had no idea of their destination, their kidnapper never saw the need to tell them where they were going nor why he'd taken them in the first place. In fact, he paid them little heed except to tend to their natural needs or if they were making too much noise for his liking.

They quickly learned the rules, they could talk quietly with each other but couldn't speak to their captor unless he addressed them first. If they got too loud, spoke to him without permission or started weeping for home, then he'd give a harsh warning for them to shut up (they were never brave enough to find out what happened if they pushed it). They got water twice a day, first thing in the morning and last thing at night, and food at midday. Mealtime was also when they were untied and allowed to deal with their bodies' natural processes properly as well as being given roughly an hour to exercise as they chose before they were tied up again. The rest of the time, they were basically ignored and treated like cargo and much later they realised that was exactly what they were to this man.

For weeks, this became their life and the constant close company with each other strengthened their relationship intensely. They filled all those long hours bound back to back with made up stories, memories of home, revealed secrets and theories on what was going to happen to them. They came up with games for their precious one hour of play and others they could do out with that time. They used their imaginations, pretending seabirds were Valkyries in disguise, waves were actually the movements of some mysterious dragon or Jörmungandr himself. They sat there through sunshine, cloud, fog and rain, gaining resistance to the elements their captor didn't seem that bothered to protect them from, slowly but surely forgetting what it was like to not have the other cousin with them all the time.

Though it was forced upon them, the constant pressure of the other cousin against their backs helped sustain their hope through the darkness of their situation. Though they lost hope in being rescued, they didn't lose hope in getting home. They had each other and that made everything more bearable, if they stayed together then they would find a way.

And so, it went on until they finally came into a massive trading port of a civilisation they knew nothing about.

* * *

They knew something was up the moment they weren't given water that morning.

The whole voyage, their kidnapper had been sullen and quiet, he only spoke to them to give short commands or to order them to be quiet and rarely showed any other emotion except aggression. Now though, he seemed excited and was hurrying around the boat in a flurry of activity. Hiccup could see several other ships on the horizon but his attention was pulled away from them by Snotlout lightly squeezing his hand, letting him know that he'd seen something he needed to describe to the older cousin.

"What is it Snotlout?"

There was a slight quiver of both fear and wonder in the younger boy's voice, "The biggest island I've ever seen, it stretches from horizon to horizon."

Hiccup gasped, his mind supplying a dim memory of something some of the adults had mentioned back on Berk, "The continent."

* * *

They sailed towards the port and as they entered its sea gate, the cousins gazed in awe at the two massive towers that dominated either side of it. They were far taller than any other building they'd ever seen before, covered in ornate stonework and carvings and topped off by huge flames burning at the top to guide ships in with both smoke and light. Massive ships, far larger than any Archipelago vessel, passed either side of their tiny boat, sails bearing blazing emblems and flying flags of all shapes and colours, crewman looked down at them from towering decks before returning to their duties and the boys spotted the intimidating military ships loaded down with heavy weaponry.

The boat drew alongside the docks for small vessels their captor disembarked to speak with an officious looking man, leaving his captives to deal with the whirl of sights and sounds around them.

Noise was everywhere, people talking, laughing, shouting wares, while animals were bleating, mooing, barking and squawking. Horses trotted along cobblestones, pulling carts, wagons and carriages as groups of soldiers in clanking armour marched past, forcing people to dive out the way. Money clinked and crates clattered, all enhanced by the flapping, whirling mass of colour that the scene was to two boys who'd never seen anything more crowded than a village party.

Unconsciously, the two cousins gripped each other's hands as their fear grew at this confusion they'd been brought to. They didn't know why they'd been brought here and they had no idea how to handle everything that was now being thrown at them. They took comfort from each other's presence and reminded themselves that they would endure as long as they stayed together.

They had been brought to the Continental Empire.

* * *

 _ **PS-So there we go and I hope that was to people's liking, I'm kind of experimenting with this sort of time-jump writing so please let me know if it's working well or not. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter. We see the next part of the boys' experiences and seeing as it seems to be working, I'll keep going with the time jump writing. No specific warnings for this chapter but please remember the general warning from last chapter. Thank you everyone for your support so far and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 _Northern Gate Port-Present_

Snotlout glowered at the people around him as they passed by.

He didn't have any grievances with them specifically but he didn't like being where he was at the moment. His eyes roamed over the docks upon which he was standing, taking note of all the alcoves, passageways and potential hiding spots as he did so, he might need them later.

He leaned back and felt a twitch of worry when his back touched cold stone, Hiccup was scouting further along the docks and despite knowing that his cousin wasn't far away, the teen was still uncomfortable with it. He'd spent far too long in Hiccup's constant company to ever be truly comfortable when they were separated (no matter how temporary the separation) but they both knew that there would be times they'd have to separate for whatever reason, this was one such time. Hiccup was far better off doing these sorts of scouts by himself, he excelled at them and he was far less conspicuous on his own. Hookfang and Toothless were hidden well beyond the city limits to avoid attracting unwanted attention as the two cousins attended to their…liberation mission.

Snotlout glanced down the docks towards the particular ship Hiccup was scouting, it was a massive, disgustingly over-decorated, garish galley which belonged to one of the Empire's nobles. The ship had been liberally coated in gold, silver and precious gems and the sheer ostentatiousness of it made the teen want to hurl, a classic case of an owner with far too much money, an arrogance as big as the sky and who took every opportunity to flaunt their wealth and power. Snotlout smirked slightly, well he and Hiccup were going to seriously ruin the noble's day and take great pleasure in doing so.

A clanging bell sounded from further within the city and Snotlout glowered once more, he knew exactly what that bell meant and he hated it.

* * *

 _Northern Gate Port-Years Ago_

Since they'd arrived in this strange world, things had become scarier for the two cousins.

Their captor had spoken with another man for a long time before disappearing somewhere, two rough looking, armed men had then stood guard beside the boat, occasionally sneering down at the two boys.

The man finally returned after nightfall, accompanied by another, finely dressed man who was flanked by two armoured guards. The new man looked down at the cousins and raised his eyebrows in surprise before turning and speaking in a language neither boy had ever heard before, their captor answered in the same tongue and the new man looked back at them in interest.

He then boarded the ship and approached them, causing the two of them to shrink away fearfully. He barked out what sounded like a command and instantly, one of the guards untied the rope keeping them back to back. The man pulled Snotlout away and started poking and prodding the boy in a way akin to how he'd seen Mulch determine the quality of his sheep back on Berk. The boy squirmed throughout the process, very scared and uncomfortable with what was happening but unable to do anything about it, and whimpered once or twice when the man touched areas he really didn't like him touching but it did little to stop him. The man then gave a satisfied nod and did the same to Hiccup, the older cousin squirmed less and didn't make a sound but Snotlout could see that he was as unnerved as he'd been, he'd just known what to expect after seeing it happen to the younger boy and had prepared for it.

Examination over, the man turned to their captor and spoke once more, he responded joyfully and gave an eager bow and with another command from the new man, the other guard dumped a small chest before their kidnapper who opened it gleefully to reveal a pile of gold. Hiccup and Snotlout barely had time to realise just what had happened before the two guards pulled them to their feet and carried them off the ship and along the docks towards the city.

* * *

After a short journey, they arrived in a large square with several raised wooden platforms spaced throughout it, behind these platforms were a great many cages, most of them containing other people. They were taken over to the cages where they were swiftly untied and bundled into a small one, by the time they'd recovered, the guards had gone.

They immediately sat back to back and both drew their knees to their chest, it was Snotlout who quietly spoke first, "Hiccup, are we slaves now?"

Hiccup gently placed his hand behind him, right where Snotlout's was already waiting, "Yeah, I think we are."

The younger cousin whimpered, though their tribe all hated slavery as a rule, they knew that other tribes practised it. The concept wasn't a foreign one, even if it had been something that happened elsewhere until now. Knowing that they were someone's property was a distressing thought, though they now realised that was what they'd been ever since the night they'd been kidnapped. The confirmation of what they were scared them, even at their young age they could work out that they were in a slave market and were likely to be sold tomorrow. They could be separated and never see each other again, left entirely alone in a land where they didn't even know the language at the mercy of whomever owned them.

The thought terrified Snotlout, and not just for his sake but for Hiccup's as well. How would they survive if they couldn't support each other? What would happen if they couldn't have each other's backs as they dealt with their new, uncertain future?

These thoughts running through their minds, they sat together for what could easily be the last time.

* * *

A clanging bell roused Snotlout from his sleep.

He and Hiccup were still back to back but were curled on the cold cage floor, daylight assaulted his eyes and he slowly registered the clamour of masses of people in the square. Hiccup stirred at the same time as him and together, they both peered through the bars at the scene beyond.

The night before, the square had been empty of people but now it was packed to bursting. People of all sorts clamoured together, young couples walked hand in hand, mothers herded excited children, finely garbed individuals walked proudly through the throngs often followed by a subservient slave to tend to their needs, groups of armoured men pushed through the crowds, making space for overdressed men and woman who swaggered by almost suffocating the crowds with their overbearing superiority. On the wooden platforms, other slaves were being showcased to the potential buyers, some were bound in chains, others with rope, some were being shown as cheap labourers and others for more specific needs. On one platform, young woman in far too little clothing danced exotic, provocative and alluring dances, confusing the two boys who didn't yet understand what their purpose was.

Their observations were cut short by the appearance of a heavily muscled man with a whip curled around his broad shoulders, he pointed it at them and snarled at them, "No trouble!"

His knowledge of their language was clearly limited but his message was obvious, both boys nodded and he smirked before opening their cage. Slowly, the cousins came out and stood side by side, heads down submissively, the man pointed and they obediently began walking, soon coming to a rectangular pool carved into the ground. Within it were a great many people washing and the cousins stopped in shock at the sight, there were so many different skin tones, hair colours, facial features, body sizes that they'd never encountered before, plus the fact they were all washing in public, that they didn't know what to make of it.

The man roughly shoved them forward towards the pool, "Wash!"

Understanding, they stripped, fear overshadowing any feeling of embarrassment, and quickly hopped into the pool's cold waters. Being from as far north as they were, the temperature hardly bothered them, soon a couple of scrubbing brushes were tossed at them and they quickly began washing. Though they hadn't done much during the voyage there, they hadn't washed either and were naturally very grubby, to actually be clean again was a great relief despite the humiliating circumstances. Fortunately, no one seemed eager to hurry them up so they took full advantage of what could be their only chance to bathe and thoroughly scrubbed, helping scrub each other's backs properly. Eventually, they were finished and they scrambled out of the pool and had to stand there while the man circled them, as if checking that they were at a satisfactory level of cleanness. He gave an approving nod and pointed to two bundles of rough cloth, they took a bundle each and found that it was a rough towel for drying and a set of smalls, quickly they dried and clothed and the man barked something out. Two guards appeared and took a cousin each, bound their hands behind them, and marched them away from the pool and towards the biggest of the platforms.

* * *

They stood together shaking with fear.

When they'd been brought to the platform, they'd received many leering gazes and anticipation thrummed in the air, an anticipation they seemed to be causing. The guards had left them in a rough pen filled with other slaves, clearly the place they waited to be sold. It stood behind the platform, out of sight of the main crowd, and at regular intervals guards would appear and take one or two slaves away to the platform itself. This would be followed by a hubbub of noise and shouts from the crowd for a short while and then the guards would return for the next slave.

Hiccup and Snotlout huddled together in one corner of the pen, watching as more and more slaves were taken to be sold. Every time a guard appeared the breath would hitch in their throat as they thought that it was their turn. They stayed as close as possible trying to keep as much contact between them as they could before they were potentially separated for ever. Time passed and slave after slave was taken to be sold until it was finally just them. Knowing that they were going to be next, Snotlout touched his head to the older boy's, "Hiccup, I'm really scared."

Hiccup returned the contact, "I know Snotlout, I am too."

"I don't want this to happen."

The older cousin's voice wavered as he tried to answer, "You'll be okay Snotlout, we both will be."

Snotlout turned, pressing his back against Hiccup's and grasping his bound hands tightly, Hiccup gripped back just as hard and they stayed that way until the guards returned.

They grabbed the two cousins and pulled out of the pen and up the steps onto the wooden platform, the man from the night before was already there and he was exclaiming something dramatically to the crowd. Excited 'oohs' came from those gathered in the square and Snotlout could see that almost all the gathered people were focused on them, he glanced at Hiccup who returned the look as the man continued to speak. The crowd cheered wildly as the man exclaimed something else and then the square fell silent, a hand shot up accompanied by a shout which was quickly followed by another, and then another.

Snotlout couldn't understand a word of the language but he guessed that people were shouting out the price they were willing to pay, hand after hand went up as people were swept up in the fierce bidding war. Snotlout started to get the feeling that he and Hiccup were something special as the people continued to bid thick and fast, many of the bids were coming from the large group of people sat on raised chairs who the boy guessed were the richest people there.

A man who was in this group stood and shouted out something that caused everyone to gasp and stop bidding, a tense silence fell and Snotlout assumed that the man had made a huge offer and people were waiting to see if anyone topped it. The silence stretched on and on until the man selling them spoke out what was probably a confirmation of the sale, the crowd dissolved into murmuring which turned into rapturous applause as the bidder left his seat and came to the platform to claim his winnings.

Both cousins looked straight at each, wondering exactly the same thing.

Which one of them had just been sold? Was this going to be the last they saw of each other?

The buyer strode onto the stage, accompanied by four of what was likely his bodyguards. Two of them carried a large chest between them and they dropped it on the stage before the seller, they opened it and Snotlout's eyes nearly fell out of his head when he saw the veritable hoard of gold coins contained within. The man selling them was nearly dancing with glee and he had no issue with two of the bodyguards grabbing a cousin each and taking them off the platform, led by the man who now owned them. The significance of what happened hit Snotlout and he looked back at Hiccup to see his eyes reflecting relief at their luck.

Their future was still uncertain but they were at least going to it together.

* * *

 _ **PS-So present day Hiccup and Snotlout are up to something and past Hiccup and Snotlout have just been sold. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello all and welcome to the next chapter of Back to Back. We're largely seeing what's happening in Berk this time around and how it's affected Stoick and Spitelout. Things are hinted at near the end but nothing is explicitly stated. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 _Isle of Berk-Years Ago_

The dragon raid had been pretty quiet by their standards.

Often the raids, while short, were usually quite brutal, injuries were common and a couple of the catapults and a house or two would need some sort of repair work. This time however, the injuries had been minimal and while some buildings had been hit hard by the raid, the well-practised Vikings would have them back to normal with ease. They'd also not lost any of their food at all making it a victory for them.

As such, Stoick was in good spirits as he headed for his hut in the dawn light, eager to see his wife and son. His brother-in-law, Spitelout, followed closely behind to collect his son, Snotlout. Neither man was overly worried, the dragons hadn't gone anywhere near this part of the village and Valka would've taken good care of the boys throughout the raid.

"Stoick!"

Hefring Ingerman ran towards them, clearly flustered and worry panged in the chief's gut, "What is it?"

She skidded to a halt in front of him, panting heavily, "Valka…the boys…you need to get there now!"

Stoick broke into a run towards the house, Spitelout right behind him, and he barged in through the open front door. Hefring's husband, Stormlegs, was crouched down in front of someone, the moment he saw the chief, he moved aside to let him see.

"Valka!"

Stoick's wife was sat with her back resting against the wall, she was breathing heavily and he could clearly see the blood that had pooled near her. Instantly, he was by her side and checking her wounds, behind him, Stormlegs spoke, "She staggered out of the house like this barely able to walk, she's been badly cut across her back and front and I've managed to roughly bandage the more serious wounds. She's still lost a lot of blood and I've sent Alsvid Hofferson to get Gothi, she should be here soon."

Valka's eyes fluttered open and Stoick spoke hopefully, "Valka?"

She looked up at him and tears began to leak from her eyes, "Stoick, a man came…he burst into the house…I tried to stop him but I wasn't strong enough…" She suddenly sat bolt upright, "Hiccup, Snotlout!" She grabbed his arms, "You have to find them! The man…he was trying to take them!"

She fainted in his arms, her strength exhausted, and Stoick held her gently even as his face morphed into one of fear, he looked at Spitelout to find the man already sprinting out the door, yelling for Vikings to help him find his son and nephew. Stormlegs took Valka from his chief's arms, "I'll take care of her until Gothi arrives, find your son."

With one nod, Stoick was out the door.

* * *

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

Stoick had changed since the day he'd lost his son.

A stern frown rarely left his face, his patience was shorter than it once had been and no one had seen him truly laugh in a very long time. Valka was also a different woman, she'd once been one of the gentlest people on the island, always smiling and calming people with just her presence. Now, she carried a look of sadness with her almost all the time, she hardly spoke and her presence depressed people instead of calming them.

For days after the boys had vanished, Stoick had led his people in search after search, trying to find the one who'd taken his son and nephew. They'd sailed well beyond Berk's waters, sending messages to other tribes, scouring every island and all but exhausting the grapevines of Trader Johann. Despite all this, they'd found nothing, no leads, no rumours, not even a whisper of the children's whereabouts and in the end, he'd been forced to accept that they might never see Hiccup or Snotlout again.

Slowly, he'd returned to his duties as chief and no one, not even Gobber, knew what to say to comfort him. Time passed, and although the pain did not lessen, the village continued with daily life. Stoick continued to lead them, despite his changes he was still a good and dutiful chief and the people were fully behind him. However, the disappearance of Hiccup left an uncertainty of what would happen once Stoick could no longer be chief.

Hiccup had been his heir, the future chief of Berk, but now he was no longer on the island and largely considered dead, there was no heir. As the next closest relative of Hiccup's generation, Snotlout would've normally become heir but with him gone as well, there was no obvious replacement.

If Stoick and Valka had another son then he'd become heir but ever since the night she lost her son, Valka could no longer bear children. Gothi believed that her wounds, coupled with her grief at losing Hiccup, had caused the damage and rendered the woman barren. Valka had always had difficulty bearing children to begin with, there'd been more than one still birth before Hiccup and even his survival had been a near miracle. As such, it wasn't a surprise to many that what had happened had caused her to become barren, though it did not make it any easier.

This meant that there was now a power vacuum looming, Stoick was still chief but there was no one left to succeed him. People feared that when he finally died, conflict amongst the tribe's clans would spike ferociously, more than one person had ambitions and they would seize the chance to potentially claim chiefdom for their clan.

These thoughts had troubled Stoick's mind of late and they concerned him now as he did his rounds of the village.

He had several years of chiefing still left in him but he needed to attend to the issue of his heir soon, clans were already showing signs of breaking into factions and it was no secret that people were forming their own theories and opinions on who should be the next chief. Stoick had to appoint an heir himself if he wanted to sort the problem but there were only really four people of the right age to choose from and the village knew it.

He made his way to the arena and watched Gobber training those very four people who were constantly being rated by the village on their worthiness.

They were running combat drills against each other and Stoick watched Astrid Hofferson facing off against Fishlegs Ingerman.

Fishlegs was a highly knowledgeable, thoughtful lad, he used his brain well and certainly knew a great deal, useful qualities in a chief. However, he didn't exert his authority, often getting intimidated by other, more aggressive Vikings. He also shrank away from violence and Stoick doubted he'd stand his ground against a rival tribe and would likely crack under the pressure that came with being chief.

His worries were proven when the boy was totally defeated by Astrid and practically cowered away from her. Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston jeered from the side lines and Stoick shook his head.

Neither of those two were even close to being suitable, they didn't pay attention, spent far too much time pranking, destroying things and causing trouble and certainly did not have the aptitude for pressured decision making. Berk would be destroyed within a day if they were left in charge and they'd probably laugh as the village burned around them.

Astrid turned away from the defeated Fishlegs dismissively and Stoick frowned.

Out of them all, Astrid was the most likely candidate, she thought fast, was well trained, knew battle strategy and certainly did not back down and let herself be intimidated. Unfortunately, she didn't really have the knack of standing firm without being too dominating. If something upset her, she reacted, often violently, and that would not get her very far as a chief. Hitting them was not always the correct solution (even if most Vikings thought so) and she did often act like it was her way or nothing whenever Gobber put her in charge of things. She didn't have the flexibility a leader needed to listen to other ideas and suggestions.

The chief sighed, how was he supposed to choose and then train one of these teens to succeed him?

Someone stood by his side and he looked to see Spitelout, the Jorgenson nodded down at the arena, "Examining your options?"

Spitelout had also changed since the loss of his son, he'd always been…difficult to deal with but he'd mellowed somewhat over the years. Much of his difficult nature had been due to family pride, Jorgensons had always striven to be the best clan on Berk and they pressured their sons intensely. At one time, his clan might've been Stoick's biggest worry in the lack of an heir issue and while many of its members were the most vocal about who should be picked, Spitelout held enough sway in the clan to keep them in line.

He'd been devastated at the loss of Snotlout and he'd kept searching long after everyone else had stopped, he'd searched further, harder and more thoroughly than anyone else but even he had finally been forced to give up. When he'd finally stopped, his focus on the Jorgenson pride had diminished and he focused on supporting his sister and brother-in-law. He'd become a solid ally for Stoick over the years and though he wasn't the brightest man in the Archipelago, he still could be trusted enough to lead small groups through the daily tasks of the village. He'd also become something of a confidant, alongside Gobber, and Stoick had spoken to him at great length on the heir issue.

The chief sighed at his brother-in-law's question, "Aye, though I'm not making much progress with a decision."

"You've still got time Stoick. They might mature over the next couple of years."

Stoick shook his head slightly, "The village is getting more and more restless over this, I need to name an heir soon or things will get worse as the clans start picking sides."

Spitelout gripped his shoulder briefly and the chief nodded thankfully, a shout from behind caused them both to turn around, "Papa!"

Spitelout grinned and crouched down with his arms open for a small, dark haired boy to leap into his arms, "Wolflout!"

Wolflout was Spitelout's second son, born barely five years ago, he was too young to be considered an heir, that and Spitelout didn't want to pressure him that way, no matter what other Jorgensons kept suggesting. The boy was irrepressibly cheerful, always smiling and unburdened by Jorgenson pride, his father had intentionally made it that way, he knew how suddenly a child could be lost and he'd made it absolutely clear that Wolflout did not have to be the 'perfect' Viking to be loved.

Wolflout chattered away to his father excitedly, "Papa, I made loads of friends up at the farm today, all the lambs wanted to play with me!"

Spitelout grinned, "I bet they did."

From an early age, Wolflout had shown an absolute love of animals and he seemed to have a way to make them love him too. He spent loads of time on the farm and adored each animal there (though it was a slight issue when one of his 'friends' had to be used for meat).

There was a barking and a small, light coloured wolf puppy bounded up, Wolflout looked down and waved at it, "Sorry Chibiterasu, I didn't mean to leave you behind."

Chibiterasu barked in response at his owner and Wolflout jumped out of his father's arms and started to play with his best friend, Stoick couldn't help but smile indulgently at the sight. Wolflout was about the only person who could get him and Valka to properly smile and they both adored their young nephew, he'd partly filled the void left behind by Hiccup and though their love for their lost son was as strong as ever, they loved to play the role of doting aunt and uncle to the boy.

His mind wandered to thoughts of Hiccup, as they'd done so many times before. He wondered if his son was actually still alive somewhere, living a life. Did he remember Berk? Did he miss his home? Was he trying to find a way back? He couldn't help but feel that Hiccup and Snotlout were out there somewhere and he often looked out over the horizon asking the same question.

What were they doing right now?

* * *

 _Northern Gate Port-Present_

Snotlout knew Hiccup was coming before he could see him.

They'd both long since realised that they could almost sense when the other cousin was nearby and if he was in trouble, most likely yet another effect of their long years of co-dependency. He straightened up from leaning against the wall and grinned, "You got what you need?"

Hiccup nodded with a smile, "Yep, its Lord Colban's ship alright, it should be a piece of cake to get aboard. The slaves are all down on the lowest decks and the treasure hoard is just above them.

Snotlout's grin widened, "The network's grapevines were right as always, thieves always have their information spot on." He smirked knowingly, "I'm guessing you got confirmation from the usual source?"

The older boy grinned, "Yeah, and I didn't even have to make them drunk, the guards already were. Typical grunts of noblemen, they bully everyone beneath them and run their mouths after a sip of ale, all I had to do was listen from hiding as they discussed the layout of the ship and what was on it." He then frowned, "Our information was also right about the slaves, they're treated like scum by Colban, locked up for days on end, starved, beaten, basically anything you can think of." His frown grew fiercer, "Colban also uses some of the boys for his 'hobbies'."

Snotlout's expression darkened considerably and he clenched his fists, "Even more slaves who've had to endure that."

Hiccup gripped his shoulder, "I know, but we're going to make sure that those boys won't go through it again and if we pull this off, Colban will never have the money nor the power to do it to anyone else."

Snotlout calmed at his cousin's touch and he suppressed memories he'd rather forget. He nodded, "So, how are we going to do this?"

Hiccup smiled slightly, "Firstly, we'll go and get the dragons, I'll tell you the plan when we're out of the city."

* * *

 _ **PS-So the village has no heir and the cousin's plan is going ahead. As a side note, Chibiterasu is a character from a game called 'Okamiden' he's a white wolf puppy in the game and is the son of Amaterasu from 'Okami', I love the games so decided that the wolf had to have that name. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter. There's no time jumping this time as we're entirely focused in the present. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 _Northern Gate Port-Present_

Above the city, winging low and fast, two dragons swooped silently by.

Toothless and Hookfang were like twin shadows in the night, unnoticeable and quiet, as they flew to the main docks. Hiccup rode Toothless skilfully, the two almost moving as one as the boy controlled an artificial tailfin.

On the ground, Snotlout skulked in the shadows, eyes fixed on the ship they'd scouted out earlier. He was waiting for Hiccup to get into position before he kicked off the start of their plan and he kept careful watch over the four guards who'd replaced their drunken comrades from earlier.

A blue light flickered on a nearby rooftop and the boy recognised the signal from his cousin, he stepped out of the shadows and walked confidently towards the guards.

He was almost on top of them before they finally noticed and one stood and pointed his spear at him, "What do you think you're doing? Who are you?"

Snotlout squared his shoulders aggressively, "What do you mean 'who are you'? Who are _you_?"

Just as he expected, the guard started to let himself get riled up, "I'm the one asking the questions boy! This is the personal ship of Lord Colban himself, a brat like you has no business here!"

Snotlout smirked, "Well Lord Colban should get himself some new guards, you guys couldn't stop a butterfly."

That kicked their far too sensitive egos and all the guards stood menacingly, "You talk big boy."

"We should knock you down to size!"

They prepared to pounce but two tails clobbered them, rendering them unconscious and Snotlout grinned, "They were way too easy to bait."

Hookfang rumbled in agreement as Hiccup smiled from Toothless' back, "They always are." He slid off the Night Fury and began dragging one of the guards away, "Now let's get these guys out of sight and 'borrow' their armour."

Snotlout took another guard as the dragons dealt with one of the others each, "The old 'disguise gambit', why does it always seem to work?"

* * *

Within a short time, the cousins were kitted out in a set of armour apiece and the guards themselves were bound and gagged out of sight in an alleyway, Hiccup signalled the dragons and they disappeared to their assigned positions. Together, the boys strode towards the ship and confidently boarded her, looking just like they were supposed to be there.

The main deck was pretty quiet (hence why they could knock out the guards without being noticed) but they knew that there'd be many more guards inside the vessel. They headed for a smaller entrance inside, one that took them away from the Lord's section of the ship, and marched in with ease.

This was the working area of the ship, where all the crew, guards and slaves resided, as such, there were a great many people bustling about which was why they needed disguises. The actual slaves had all been locked up for the night but crewman and guards were all over the place.

They walked through the ship unchallenged, a couple of random guards were hardly a concern, and worked their way down to the lower decks. Here, things would get more difficult, they'd need a valid reason to be hanging around the slave cells and they somehow needed to get the keys to the cells.

As they reached the lower deck, they moved more cautiously, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. It was lined with cells, most holding a slave, and they looked through the bars of each door as they passed.

There were slaves of all kinds, from all over the Continental Empire, young, old, male, female, slaves from the hot countries of the south, others from the north and one or two from the oriental east. Some were in chains, some were bound and gagged, it seemed that Colban let his men treat the slaves as they saw fit and no doubt more than a few of them had done just that, the signs of abuse and torment were all over these people.

A jangling sound was heard and the two cousins swiftly ducked behind some handy barrels.

A large guard ambled down the deck whistling, the jangling sound came from a large bunch of keys on his belt and these, along with the whip he was carrying, indicated that he was the slavemaster. Hiccup merely glanced at Snotlout and the younger boy knew the plan, he quietly pulled out a blowpipe and gently placed a small dart inside. He placed the pipe to his lips, popped out of cover, and blew, firing the dart accurately at the slavemaster. The moment it hit, the man crumpled to the floor unconscious and the two boys broke from hiding.

Soon, the man was relieved of his keys and was locked in one of the cells as they set about freeing all the slaves. They were hard pressed to keep everyone quiet, they were all shocked and excited by what was happening so they kept talking and muttering, most wanted to know exactly what the plan was to get them out and Hiccup shushed them, "Everyone shush, I have a plan but you all need to stay quiet if you want to get out of here."

Hiccup made his way into one of the cells and knocked out a set rhythm on the wooden wall, there was silence for a few moments then the wall began to glow and suddenly a large section was pulled away revealing Toothless' face. Hiccup grinned at him, "Good job bud."

Behind him, people gasped at the dragon and one older woman stepped forward, looking between the boys with awe, "It's you, isn't it? You're the Viking Dragon Riders, the ones who've been stealing from the nobles and freeing slaves."

Snotlout shrugged, "Yeah that's us, now get going if you want to properly escape."

Hiccup nodded in agreement, "You need to move quickly, these docks all have a sort of 'under-dock', you can use that to reach the sewer entrances unseen. After that, it's your choice."

The woman nodded in understanding and quickly started herding the former slaves out of the gap Toothless had made, she was the last to leave and she turned to the cousins, "Thank you."

They simply smiled and she swiftly vanished, wanting to make the most of her chance.

* * *

With the slaves gone, the boys could move onto the next part of their plan. Toothless clambered in through the hole he'd made and Hiccup pointed up at a section of the roof, "Right there bud."

The Night Fury aimed at the point and used his continuous fire to heat it up, the wood burned quickly and a hole appeared. The cousins, with assistance from Toothless, clambered through it and into the ship's treasure room.

It was packed to the brim with gold, jewels, rare fabrics and all sorts of other valuables, the wealth here was far beyond what most people could imagine but the boys knew that it was only a fraction of what Colban owned.

Lord Colban was among the most prominent of nobles, the elite of the elite, he'd plotted, backstabbed, wheedled and bribed his way up to the depths of the inner circle of government and now commanded incredible influence throughout the empire. Hiccup and Snotlout had never been owned by the lord but they had met him before and knew all too well how he treated slaves. Colban was the optimum representation of the empire's gilded, rotten core, the world of nobles and their gentle words and constant façade of friendliness, as they plotted how to trample over you for their own gain.

Officially, Lord Colban was in the city to inspect it and its port, a reasonable excuse since Northern Gate was a hugely important port to the empire, but the information network which was used by the criminal underworld, the Ferret Network, had discovered that he was actually here on a completely different task.

To have the Emperor's Star re-cut.

The greatest diamond in the entire continent, a vital piece of the Crown Jewels and the most valuable item in the empire. Lord Colban had been entrusted with having it secretly re-cut by a master jeweller in the city, as far as the public were concerned, the diamond was still in its rightful place in the Emperor's Palace and several high-profile lords had been dispatched to other cities to act as decoys should someone realise that it wasn't there. The Ferret Network had been buzzing with the news of the diamond's movements but no thief dared to even attempt to steal it, except Hiccup and Snotlout.

The cousins had been making a name for themselves ever since their escape from slavery, they'd freed many other slaves and had continually stolen from nobles as they'd travelled homewards to Berk. This was to be their last hurrah, a final theft from one of the most untouchable lords out there.

They glanced carefully around the room and instinctively moved to search, the diamond's safety had been relying on secrecy however, it would have additional protections just in case.

Snotlout stopped beside one of the walls and Hiccup was almost immediately beside him, one quick, silent conversation followed and the older cousin pressed his ear to the wall and lightly tapped it. He kept tapping until he smiled and pushed in a section of wall, with barely a sound, it slid upwards to reveal a small opening which had a metal box embedded inside. The box had several locks and Hiccup stood to one side and let Snotlout take over, the younger boy carefully examined the locks and then nodded and started to pick the locks. As he did so, Hiccup stole away to start the next phase of their plan.

* * *

None of the guards were prepared for a Night Fury to charge up from the lower decks and start rampaging through the ship.

Toothless was having a ball smashing things, firing plasma blasts, sending people flying, and the crew and guards panicked, thinking that they were under attack from a much larger force. Hookfang heard the commotion from inside and took the cue to launch his own attack from outside, his fire rained down on the deck adding to the chaos and severely damaging the ship in the process.

Inside the treasure room, Snotlout was working quickly on the locks. He'd shown a certain aptitude for lock picking and although these ones were particularly difficult, he was making good progress. He heard voices approaching but kept working, they were most likely Lord Colban and a couple of guards who were here to safeguard the diamond.

"Get moving you dolts, we must ensure the vault is secure from this attack!"

Snotlout knew that the voice belonged to Lord Colban and he smirked slightly, the last lock clicked and he grinned as he plucked the diamond out of its box.

"Get it open you fools!"

Colban's voice was right outside the heavily reinforced door and Snotlout stood facing it. There was the sound of several locks opening and the door swung open to reveal Lord Colban and two guards.

All three stopped dead when they saw the boy standing there and Snotlout waved cheerily, "Surprise!"

Colban's face turned purple with rage and he pointed savagely at him, "GET HIM!"

The two guards obeyed immediately and leapt towards Snotlout…and straight into the hole in the floor. As they landed with a cacophony of clangs, Snotlout drew his arm back and called out to Colban, "Think fast!"

The lord had no time to react as the boy pitched the diamond right at him with force, it struck the man right in the forehead, sending him to the floor. The boy and begun moving straight after the throw, he sprinted forward, leapt the hole, caught the diamond on its rebound, landed directly on Colban and charged away from the vault and up to the deck.

Hiccup was there waiting and Snotlout tossed him the diamond as he mounted the just landed Hookfang. The Nightmare shot into the air and Toothless burst from within the ship, closely followed by a horde of armed men. Hiccup leapt onto his back as Colban charged out onto the deck himself, he saw the diamond in Hiccup's hand and screeched at his men, "SEIZE THAT BOY!"

Toothless knocked him off his feet with a plasma blast and flew skyward, easily avoiding the thrown weapons meant to bring him down. Suddenly, explosions detonated around the ship where the cousins had planted explosive barrels earlier, Hookfang was flying around the ship, lighting the barrels with his fire, causing them to explode.

The ship rocked violently and people staggered about as the ship started to sink, people started abandoning ship, Colban foremost among them, and soon they were all floundering about in the water.

Hiccup flew Toothless down to just above where Colban was and he examined the diamond he was holding casually, "You know, I don't really need this so there's no point keeping it." He looked up at his cousin, "What do you think?"

Snotlout shrugged, "While it does look kind of cool, it's not really any use."

Hiccup nodded, "You're right."

He tossed it upwards towards Hookfang and the Nightmare swung his tail around and sent the diamond flying right into the deep water where it would not be recovered.

Colban was speechless, the loss of the diamond meant the end of everything he'd gained. His favour with the emperor would become nothing and with it went his wealth, his influence and all his power, his reputation would be reduced to ash.

The cousins grinned at him before flying away, calling back cheerfully as they went.

"Cheerio now!"

"Toodle-pip."

"Enjoy your swim, hope it's not too cold for you."

"Have fun now and we hope to never see you again."

The last Colban heard was the cousin's laughter as they flew away, never to be seen again.

* * *

 _ **PS-And so they head north! Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello all and welcome to chapter six. We're back to time jumps again though this is a bit of a filler chapter. However, it does reveal a bit more about the situation on Berk. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 _Estate of Lord Barri-Years ago_

It had been a time of rapid learning for the cousins.

Firstly, they needed to know the language, it was completely beyond them and their survival depended on knowing what was being said around them. Secondly, they needed to understand the culture they'd been thrown into and the expectations their new owner would have of them. Fortunately, they'd been luckier than they'd thought.

Their owner was Lord Barri, in terms of hierarchy, he was somewhere near the top of the middle tier of nobles, he owned a good deal of land and property with a modest amount of influence and was reasonably well connected. He had a love of collecting exclusive items that he could show off to the other nobles and it was this that had driven him to spend so much on two Viking boys.

Vikings were an almost legendary people on the continent, the empire's ships never went that far north and what few people had been there brought back stories of tough, warlike barbarians that fired the imaginations of the people. As such, there were very few Viking slaves and certainly no Viking children, making Hiccup and Snotlout highly valuable.

Their exclusiveness granted them a good deal of protection, Lord Barri wanted to show them off like a pair of rare animals, not work them as slaves. Their job was to stand meekly to one side where they'd be noticed by the Lord's guests and then be gawked at as their owner bragged about his 'exclusive' slaves. This not only made their slavery so much easier but it also let them observe the culture with ease, Hiccup quickly picked up the language and would patiently teach Snotlout until they were both fluent, after that it was simply a matter of listening to the nobles to discover how the empire's system worked.

When they weren't on display to guests, they were locked up in their cell which wasn't that bad. It was bare and with only four stone walls and a floor but it was big enough for them to play in, a definite improvement on being tied up on a small boat. They were also lucky in that the Housemaster, who was in charge of all the slaves, was a fairly decent man, as long as you didn't give him any trouble, he treated you well and would occasionally grant small comforts to particularly well-behaved slaves.

It was in this cell that Hiccup was trying to teach his cousin the hierarchy of the empire using a set of wooden beads the Housemaster had given them to play with. He pointed to a single one at the top of the arrangement, "So at the top is the Emperor, he is in charge of the whole empire and has the final say in how things are run." He then indicated a set of three beads beneath the emperor bead, "These are the three nobles of the Emperor's inner circle, Lord Colban, Lord Bressal and Lord Darren, they hold the most power after the Emperor and are kind of in a whole class of their own. Beneath them are the other nobles, though technically of the same ranking, their individual wealth, power and influence slots them into different tiers within their class."

Snotlout was laying on his stomach and he pointed to the beads representing the nobles, "And Lord Barri is somewhere in the middle of that?"

Hiccup nodded, "He's in the top end of the middle tier, that means he's worth the notice of someone like Lord Colban and is far enough up to mostly get what he wants, however, he wouldn't be able to push the higher up Lords into supporting something without help." He pointed to the set of beads beneath the nobles, "After the nobles are the top military commanders, while the nobles mostly discuss the economy, laws and logistics of running the empire, it's these commanders that have a say in how a military campaign would work, they also decided how best to enforce the laws passed down by the nobles and are responsible for maintaining order in the empire."

"But the nobles can overrule their decision if they want to?"

Hiccup sighed, "Yep and that's the reason nobles can get away with illegal acts, being above the military makes them less touchable by the law." He moved on, "Beneath the military is the civil servants, they're the ones who tend to the day to day issues of running the empire, they're the judges, top end merchants, tax collectors, all those kinds of jobs. After them is basically everyone else, the common people who are citizens of the empire with jobs."

"And we're beneath them."

Hiccup nodded, "Yeah, as slaves we're not really counted as people, we're more like livestock. Most slaves are people from the far reaches of the empire or have been taken from beyond its borders, we can be traded and bartered like other goods and we have no rights within the empire."

Snotlout pointed to a set of beads that Hiccup had put to one side of his arrangement, "And what about that class, where do they fit?"

"That represents those who don't fit anywhere else in the system, they're people like military deserters, pirates, escaped slaves, those who've cast aside the empire's rule and gone against it. They're constantly on the run from the empire and a citizen who catches them can do as they please with them, at least as slaves, anyone else needs our master's approval before they can harm us, we're considered his property."

Snotlout scratched his head, "The whole system seems a bit too focused on classing people."

Hiccup shrugged, "You're right but we're not really in a position to change it, from what I've heard, we got pretty lucky with our master. He's more interested in showing us off than working us as slaves."

The younger boy sighed, "But we just got dragged into this, we were kidnapped from our home and just sold off." He placed his chin on his hands, "I miss home."

Hiccup smiled sadly and patted his cousin's head, "We'll get back there, someday. For now, we'll just have to make do as best as we can."

Snotlout smiled slightly, "I know."

* * *

 _Island in the Northern Sea-Present_

Snotlout yawned as he dismounted Hookfang.

Since their humiliation of Lord Colban, the cousins had tried to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the continent. The loss of the Emperor's Star and the subsequent fall of Lord Colban was going to cause a flurry of scrabbling for power amongst the nobles, capturing the people responsible for the diamond's loss would gain immense favour with the Emperor and such favour meant greater influence and wealth. Lords would be falling over themselves to achieve such a thing and would be dispatching whatever military forces they had to find them.

Despite this, the cousins weren't that concerned, they knew that many wouldn't go that far from the empire's waters and they certainly wouldn't go anywhere near the waters of the Vikings, a healthy fear of said Vikings kept them well away. They just made sure to get as far north as possible to where any pursuers would never catch up to them.

As Snotlout stretched, Hiccup came up and patted his shoulder, "Well, we're finally away from empire waters."

Snotlout smiled as that sunk in, for the first time in years they were away from the empire, they were actually heading home. He frowned, "The odd thing is, I don't feel that different. Maybe it's because we're not actually home yet."

Hiccup grinned, "Well, in a week or two we will be, we'll have finally made it all the way back to Berk."

The younger boy nodded, "Yeah we will." He looked thoughtful, "I wonder how Berk has changed?"

* * *

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

Stoick was resisting the urge to smash his head off the table as the village council argued yet again over the same, issue.

"I'm telling you, now's the time to find the nest!"

"Every time we've tried before, we've failed. Why would it be different this time?"

The argument was going back and forth as council members vocalised their opinion hotly, the way most Vikings did. It had been like this for a couple of months now with the same people bringing up the same topic every single meeting thus leading to a long, drawn out argument on the same subject.

The dragon raids or lack thereof.

For some unknown reason, the dragon raids had stopped entirely, in fact, there were hardly any dragons seen around Berk at all these days. No one was really sure why the dragons no longer attacked them but personally, Stoick had quite enjoyed not having to fend them off every other night but, as always, the village was divided on how to deal with the sudden change.

Some wanted to push for the nest, claiming that lack of dragon activity meant that something, like a disease, had weakened them, thus making it the perfect time to drive them off for good. Others claimed this idea as folly and were saying that the dragons would be back eventually so they should reinforce the village while they could. The two sides bickered constantly about it and it was another ongoing trouble that Stoick had to deal with on top of the heir issue.

Sven and Alsvid were the two arguing about it right now but it wouldn't be long before the other council members got involved.

Alsvid tapped the table top to emphasise his point, "Our people have been searching for the nest ever since Berk was founded and we've always dealt with dragon raids. The raids suddenly stopping must mean that the dragons don't have the numbers to attack us at the moment, we should drive them off for good before they're strong enough to do so again."

Sven shook his head, "Most of the ships that sail into the fogbank around the nest don't come back, those that do don't even get close to the nest itself. We should reinforce the village so that we're more ready to take on the dragons or any other attacker when they come."

Alsvid appealed to the Stoick, "Chief, I could take a group of warriors to investigate whether or not we can get to the nest…"

"Oh, I see what you're up to Alsvid." Sven glowered, "I bet you're going to take your daughter with you on your little mission, put her in charge to gain her points as a likely heir."

Stormlegs spoke up in defence of his friend, "I doubt Alsvid was planning anything of the sort, he's just suggesting what he thinks is best for the village."

Byleiptr Thorston snorted, "Unlikely Ingerman, the Hoffersons have been vying for position of best clan for ages, his scout trip will certainly attempt to make his daughter look perfect at everything to further that goal."

Sven backed him up, "You've put her on a pedestal from the day she was born and I for one see right through your attempt to push her as heir." He scoffed, "Besides, who ever heard of Berk having a female chief."

Alsvid slammed his hand down, "How dare you! I'm just…"

"ENOUGH!"

Stoick's shout silenced the argument and he glowered at the council, "This isn't a discussion about Berk's heir, it's about the dragons no longer raiding us. As a council, I expect you all to be able to reasonably discuss this without it devolving into clan politics." He sighed, "Now does anyone have any more suggestions."

Spitelout had been silent throughout the entire argument and he leaned forward, "The dragons haven't raided us for two months now and personally, I enjoy not having to fight them all the time. Now, we know that the nest is nearly impossible to find, never mind trying to drive the dragons out of it. If they're going to disappear to their island and not raid us then I say let them, if they attack again then we defend ourselves as we always have but I don't see the point in risking our warriors by attacking them if they're happy to leave us alone. Let's not go looking for trouble if its willing to leave us be."

In the silence that followed, Stoick nodded, "I agree with Spitelout, why should we spoil this peace we have by deliberately stirring up a dragon's nest. We'll remain vigilant in case they start to raid us again but if they're going to leave us be then we may as well leave them be. With people like Alvin out there, let's not give ourselves even more enemies." He stood, "Now, I think it's about time this meeting was adjourned."

With a great deal of muttering, the council broke up and shuffled out of the Great Hall, Gobber and Spitelout lingered with Stoick and the blacksmith spoke once the last Viking had left, "I think yer both right, why attack the dragons if they're ignoring us. Better for everyone if we just avoid each other."

Stoick sat heavily in his chair, "I think they all know it too Gobber, it's just they want to use it to push the heir issue, that's what they're really concerned about."

Spitelout sighed, "I get that having an heir is important but why can't they just wait for you to make a decision?"

It was Gobber who answered, "Because they all want chieftainship to move to their clan. The Haddocks have led Berk ever since it was founded by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock I, this is the first time in the tribe's history that its likely to shift." He looked thoughtful, "At least it's just the Hoffersons, Ingermans and Thorstons, and their respective supporters, that are really pushing the issue, everyone else is happy to let you decide Stoick."

The chief nodded, "Aye, there's that." He looked at Spitelout, "What about the Jorgensons, what's their views?"

Spitelout rolled his eyes, "The usual, most keep trying to convince me to push Wolflout forward, technically he's eligible but he's really too young for you to train up in time for you to step down. Personally, I doubt he'd ever really want to be chief and though he's a great lad, I don't think he'll ever be chief material. Jorgensons being Jorgensons, they're completely ignoring this and still being vocal about it but that's the most they can do, there's no one else in the clan who's eligible and I'm keeping my son well away from their unreasonable demands of him. I'm also the clan head so I can keep them under control."

Stoick smiled thankfully, "Thank you Spitelout." He sighed, "We need an answer to this problem before it gets any worse."

Gobber clapped him on the shoulder, "Ye'll think of something Stoick, ye always do."

* * *

 _ **PS-So the dragons have actually stopped attacking but the village still has a load of issues. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello all and welcome to another chapter. We see a lot happening this chapter and we also get a lot more of Wolflout as well as Hiccup and Snotlout. Thank you everyone for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

 _Isle of Berk-Five Years Ago_

Stoick sat in Spitelout's house, listening nervously to the screams coming from his in-law's room.

Helga had gone into labour quite some time ago and Valka was inside assisting Gothi with the delivery. The birth was worryingly premature, a direct contrast to Snotlout's which had been worryingly late, and there were fears of a still birth. The moment the chief had heard what was happening, he'd dropped everything and rushed over to the house in case he was needed. He of course couldn't help with delivering the child but he would be right there for whatever outcome that occurred.

He desperately hoped that the baby would survive, Helga had been devastated when Hiccup and Snotlout vanished and, like Valka, she never really recovered. When they'd discovered that she was pregnant, she'd genuinely smiled with joy for the first time in years. She and Spitelout had been excited for months about their new child and it had even pulled Valka closer to how she'd once been when she heard about her brother's upcoming child. If the baby died in birth then it was likely that Helga would be hit even harder, not to mention the tragedy of such an event without such a background.

Everything suddenly went quiet and Stoick held his breath, waiting desperately for news. There was a long wait until the door finally creaked open and Valka stuck her head out of the room, the chief stood eagerly and she gave him a small smile.

"They've had a boy."

Stoick couldn't help but grin and she pushed the door fully open, indicating that he could come in.

Inside, things were quiet and Helga was propped up in the bed holding her bundled up son, beside her, Spitelout was leaning in and smiling down at the boy as he kept a loving arm around his wife, there were gurgling noises and Stoick glimpsed the tiny hands waving about from the blankets. In the corner, Gothi was quietly sorting out her things and she simply nodded at him to indicate that all was well before shuffling out room.

Spitelout looked up and beamed at him, "Stoick, come see!"

Helga shook her head fondly as her husband gently took his son and held him up for his brother-in-law to see, Stoick leaned over and looked down at the boy.

He'd actually been expecting the boy to look incredibly similar to his father, the way Snotlout had been, but it seemed that he'd actually taken much more after his mother. He had a patch of dark hair that looked like it was going to be like Spitelout's but his facial features were definitely from Helga's side of the family. For starters, his eyes were the gentle brown of his mother's, an unusual colour in the Archipelago, and his nose certainly wasn't as rounded as his father's. He was also finer featured and even with his baby body, you could see that the boy was never going to be as robustly built as the rest of the men in his clan. He wasn't small exactly, just smaller and more erring towards the sort of build Valka had instead of the classic Jorgenson build.

Stoick smiled down at the little one as Valka came up beside him and spoke, "He's beautiful Spitelout, what are you going to name him?"

Spitelout carefully handed the boy back to his wife and both parents grinned at them, "Well, we're sticking with the Jorgenson norm but we're naming him after one of his lesser known ancestors, one that didn't really care for the excessive competitiveness of the rest of the clan."

Helga continued for him, "We both believe that we shouldn't push him the way Jorgensons usually push their sons, so we decided to not name him after one of the great warriors of the clan, instead, we're naming him after someone who was more focused on supporting the tribe and mediating things."

Spitelout nodded, "So we're calling him Wolflout."

Stoick's smile grew slightly as Wolflout started to grumble and Valka also nodded, "It sounds perfect."

Wolflout's grumbles grew louder and the chief softly shepherded his wife out the room to leave the family in peace, "I'm sure Wolflout will do you both proud. If you need anything just ask, we'll gladly help."

As they slipped out the door, they saw Spitelout kiss his son's forehead tenderly and heard him quietly whisper, "We're going to do everything we can to love you properly Wolflout, I promise."

* * *

 _Outcast Ship-Present_

Wolflout sat fearfully against the mast, tightly hugging Chibiterasu as he watched the Outcasts around him.

The boy had no idea what had happened to him, one moment he'd been happily playing with his wolf pup and the next he'd been grabbed by burly men and whisked away to their ship. He didn't know that the Outcasts had been watching Berk from hiding for days, waiting for the chance to grab themselves a hostage, he'd wandered slightly too close to the forest and they'd seized the moment. Alvin had seen the sudden stop of the dragon raids as the time to launch his campaign against his former home and taking Stoick's nephew hostage was a good start.

Wolflout huddled down some more and Chibiterasu gently licked him, the wolf pup growled at any Outcast that came too close but being a puppy meant that he was not very intimidating at all. The boy whimpered slightly, wishing his dad was there and wondering what was going to happen to him.

Both he and the Outcasts were unaware of the fact that they were being watched.

* * *

 _Skies of the Archipelago-Present_

Snotlout glowered down at the ship, well aware of the young boy that was clearly being held captive.

He was up above the clouds, mostly hidden and easily missed by the casual observer, waiting for Hiccup and Toothless to return from their brief scout of the ship. He felt Hookfang's discontented rumbles and he patted the Nightmare's snout, "Don't worry Fangster, we're going to help that kid out real soon. We just need to wait for Hiccup to get back and tell us how best to go about it."

As if summoned by his words, Toothless swooped up beside them and Hiccup answered briefly, "They definitely kidnapped him, they're planning to use the boy as a hostage against Berk."

Snotlout growled slightly, "Typical, poor kid is probably terrified."

Hiccup nodded, "Yeah, but not for much longer." He outlined the plan, "These guys seem to be the usual grunt types, big on muscles but overall easy to handle. We go in hard and fast, you and Hookfang launch the big attack, lots of fire, roaring and all that stuff, just watch out for the kid. Me and Toothless will use pinpoint blasts to clear the men and between us we'll easily drive them off the ship so that we'll be able to hopefully calm the boy enough to get him back to Berk."

Snotlout barely needed to nod in confirmation and Hiccup grinned, he and Toothless flew away to get into position and after a few moments, Hookfang and Snotlout launched the attack.

It worked precisely as planned, Hookfang descended like a flaming boulder and landed squarely on the ship. The Outcasts were completely thrown by such a dramatic tactic and the Nightmare was batting them overboard before they could get over their shock, they'd cut out the fire breath to avoid hurting the boy but the dragon's past meant he was formidable even without it. The man who seemed to be in charge was yelling at his men and clouting them round the head to get them to fight, he was then knocked right out by a high-speed rock courtesy of Snotlout and the teen grinned. Several plasma blasts impacted around the ship and within moments, all the Outcasts were either out for the count or floundering in the ocean.

The battle over, Snotlout and Hiccup swiftly dismounted and signalled the dragons to back off slightly. The boy would've certainly been freaked out more by the sudden battle and they wanted to avoid scaring him any more than he'd already been.

As the dragons moved to the end of the ship, Snotlout briefly touched Hiccup's arm, indicating that he'd take over here, Hiccup silently stepped aside and the younger cousin moved carefully towards the wide-eyed boy.

The wolf in his arms growled at his approach and the teen sat gently down on the deck, he smiled and gave a small wave, "Hi, I'm Snotlout and that's Hiccup, we're here to help you." He leaned forward a little, "I know things have been really scary for you but I promise that we just want to take you safely home."

The boy's eyes flickered to the dragons and Snotlout spoke reassuringly, "I know the dragons seem really scary and you've probably been told that they're bad, but these guys are with us. They've really helped me and Hiccup out a lot in the past and they won't hurt you, honest." He smiled again, "What's your name?"

The boy answered quietly, "Wolflout."

Snotlout recognised the style of name and knew that the boy must be related to him in some way, however, he pushed it aside for the moment and focused on calming the boy so they could get him home, "Well, Wolflout, the guys who took you won't be unconscious for ever so we'd like to get you back home soon. Do you think you could be brave enough to let us do that?"

Wolflout whimpered slightly and glanced at the dragons again, "Using them?"

The teen nodded gently, "Yes, I promise that they won't hurt you, in fact they're as eager to get you home as we are."

Toothless rumbled gently in agreement and gave his gummy grin, Wolflout blinked in surprise but then gnawed his lip worriedly, "Are you really going to take me home?"

Snotlout nodded, "Promise."

The boy shuffled uncertainly then squeaked in surprise as the wolf in his arms wriggled out of his grip and padded over to Snotlout. The teen sat right where he was and simply watched as the puppy sniffed him, the wolf seemed to ponder for a minute then gave a small bark and began nuzzling him. Snotlout gave a small laugh and petted the wolf as Wolflout stared, "Chibiterasu? Are you saying that he's safe?"

The wolf barked again and ran back to his owner, the boy stroked his friend as he stared at Snotlout in wonder, "Chibi seems to think you're safe and he's never wrong, I'll come."

Snotlout grinned, "That's good." He stood and held out his hand, "Let's go."

Tentatively, Wolflout took his hand and the teen led the boy over to Hookfang, the Nightmare lay down on the ground and patiently waited as Snotlout introduced him, "Now this is Hookfang, I know he's really big and scary with all those scars but he won't hurt you, just hold out your hand and let him come to you."

Slowly, the boy held up his palm and Hookfang gently placed his snout against it, Wolflout drew it back in amazement and Chibiterasu bounded up to the dragon yapping happily, the Nightmare answered with a low rumble and briefly nuzzled the wolf's back. Snotlout grinned at the sight and he carefully lifted the boy up onto Hookfang's neck ready to fly.

"Next stop, Berk."

* * *

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

Wolflout's absence had not gone unnoticed.

Spitelout and Stoick had been frantically searching the village but had found no sign of him. They were just organising search parties to scour the forest when a sudden shout halted everything.

"DRAGONS INBOUND!"

Within moments, people were armed and ready as Stoick sprinted to one of the catapult towers to see for himself. Sure enough, he saw the familiar forms of two dragons heading directly towards them, he scanned the horizon for more but saw that the skies were clear of any other dragons and he frowned. Why was there only two? It surely couldn't be a raid, unless these ones were particularly desperate for food.

His frown deepened when he noticed something off about the shapes, it almost looked like people were riding them. It soon became apparent that there were indeed people on their backs and he quickly called out to the Vikings, "Hold fire!"

He hurried down to the ground and stood at the front of the crowd, everyone watched as the dragons flew slowly towards them. It was clear that they had no intention of attacking and Berk just watched as they landed before them, one was obviously a Monstrous Nightmare but the other was one they'd never seen before. The name, Night Fury, sprang to most people's minds and they couldn't believe that such a legendary dragon had appeared.

However, the biggest surprise was when Wolflout leapt off the Nightmare's back and ran towards his father, Chibiterasu right on his heels, "Dad!"

He flung himself at the man and Spitelout held him in his arms, speaking in a mix of relief and surprise, "Wolflout, where've been? What happened?"

Words tumbled from the boy's mouth as he buried himself into the comfort of his father's embrace, "Some really scary men took me but these big boys rescued me and brought me home!"

It was now that everyone looked past the dragons and to the people that rode them. Gasps rang out from the Berkians and Stoick could only stare as they all saw two, older, but instantly recognisable faces that they hadn't seen in far too long.

Hiccup and Snotlout.

No one could believe it, here were two boys that they'd long thought lost. Stoick and Spitelout had no idea what to say as they stared at their sons and they thought it was some strange dream. Here were their lost children, safe and sound and riding dragons on top of everything else, they had no idea how to react.

Wolflout had noticed the tension in his father and he looked at him worriedly, "Dad?"

His voice pulled the two men out of their shock and they stepped forward together, Stoick spoke tentatively, a tremor of hope in his voice, "Hiccup?"

Hiccup slowly nodded, "Hey dad."

Spitelout kept his eyes fixed on his son, "Snotlout?"

Snotlout also stepped towards him, "Dad."

A silence stretched on and on, neither side sure what to do next, then, like something inside had kick-started them, they ran to each other.

Fathers and sons practically slammed into each other, fiercely embracing as tears of joy poured down like waterfalls. The villagers were silent for a second and then erupted into thunderous cheers that resounded throughout the whole of Berk.

Hiccup and Snotlout were home.

* * *

 _ **PS-As you may have guessed, this is far from the end of the story and there is plenty more to come. Also, I've got another story on the go called 'Aurora-Magicka', its set in another HTTYD AU of mine during RTTE. If you want, it would be great if you'd all give that a look as well. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter. This one mentions a bit more about what happened in the past as the cousins start considering the adjustment to living back at Berk. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

Berk partied like it never had before.

The completely unexpected return of Hiccup and Snotlout had sparked overwhelming joy among two of the tribe's major clans, Stoick and Spitelout were smiling and laughing like they never had before and when Valka and Helga found out, well, the tears just didn't stop.

The two women had stood in shock for ages before finally hugging their sons so hard they nearly throttled them. Stoick had declared a feast right there and then and no one was going to object, the excitement was such that everyone was even willing to give the two dragons a chance and all and sundry piled into the Great Hall.

Hiccup and Snotlout sat side by side, with their families around them, and Wolflout had installed himself in Snotlout's lap. The boy was over the moon at the fact he now had a big brother and Snotlout himself loved having a younger brother, he'd always hoped that his parents would've had more children despite his absence and coming to find that they had pleased him no end. Hookfang and Toothless lingered behind them and while many Vikings gave them suspicious looks, it soon became clear to everyone that the dragons really had no interest in attacking people. They happily munched their way through barrels of fish as the party ran on and on, well into the night and into the early hours.

Stoick managed to fend off people questioning the boys on where they'd been and what had happened, despite wanting to know himself, he believed that it was best to ask them in less public circumstances and let them get used to being back on Berk first. He didn't know for sure what they'd been through but the scars all over the dragons and what ones he could see on the boys gave him hints, finding out what had happened could be painful for both sides.

Eventually, the celebration wound down and the two teens, reluctantly, separated and went with their respective parents.

* * *

 _Estate of Lord Barri-Years Ago_

Snotlout whimpered slightly.

His and Hiccup's fairly easy slavery had gotten worse in the last couple of weeks ever since Lord Barri had left on official business, leaving his son in charge of the estate. Eurion was not unlike his father but he did not care much for the exclusiveness of the two Vikings, he expected slaves to work and not simply be used as living decorations. This on its own was hardly an issue, the serving work he got them to do was far from taxing and they were well aware that they could be doing far worse jobs. However, Eurion believed that slaves should be kept separate as much as possible, allowing them to speak and spend time together opened up the possibility of ideas being shared, ideas of a joint escape attempt. Because of this, he'd placed the boys in separate, smaller cells at different ends of the house and didn't allow them to work together.

This was the first time the boys had been truly separated since they'd been kidnapped and it was proving incredibly hard for them.

Snotlout shuffled unhappily on the cold, stone floor, unable to sleep. His cell was pretty much the same as his last one, just smaller, but it was the fact that he was alone that made it far less comfortable. His back felt vulnerable without Hiccup's touching it and several times he'd been about to speak to his cousin, just to remember that he wasn't there. It had been several days since he'd seen the other boy and the longer they stayed separate, the unhappier he became.

He hadn't realised that the constant separation was affecting him physically, though he was still eating, he was getting thinner and paler and the nights of little to no sleep were beginning to show. He was working slower and he did little but sit in his cell in silence when he wasn't serving his owners.

Voices dimly filtered through and he half listened as they got louder.

"Milord, the signs are all there and since they are Lord Barri's most valuable slaves, it may be prudent to respond to them."

It was the Housemaster who'd spoken and it was Eurion who answered, "I fail to see why it is an issue, they are slaves and as such will do as required. Their psychological quirks are of little consequence, especially since we are talking about barbaric Vikings."

They were now right outside his cell and the Housemaster replied, "Over the weeks you've kept them separate, they've both become paler, thinner and weaker, they're not starving themselves but they're clearly not maintaining their health either. They also aren't showing any signs of interest in their surroundings or even in moving, the only time they actually look vaguely animated is when they are working. It is clear that they are pining for each other."

The lock rattled and the door creaked open, automatically, Snotlout stood and bowed as he was expected to do. He kept his head lowered as Eurion entered and stared at him thoughtfully, the man spoke to the Housemaster, "You're saying that these creatures actually form close connections?"

The Housemaster nodded, "Yes Milord, we know that they were captured together and spent the whole journey down from the north in near constant physical contact. With that in mind, it's no surprise that they ended up closely bonded, its happened between slaves before and it was for this reason Lord Barri kept them together."

Eurion paced around Snotlout silently and the boy remained docile and submissive, eventually the man nodded decisively, "I believe you are correct, we should indeed do something about this." He looked to the Housemaster, "This is the younger of the two, correct?"

The man nodded, slight relief in his eyes, "Apparently so, though probably only by a few months or so."

Eurion looked back at the boy, "Then we shall start with him." He spoke commandingly, "Take this one and put him in isolation in the lower cells."

The Housemaster's face became a picture of shock, "Milord?"

"Slaves are property and require emotional attachments no more than a vase does." Eurion's voice carried a note of finality, "Several days in complete isolation should stop this pining, give the older one the same treatment and show no special treatment. The full works should quickly sort this out."

He swept past the Housemaster who could only stare as his superior walked away, he looked at Snotlout who now wore an expression of terror.

The full works was a punishment reserved for particularly unruly slaves, usually ones who'd just arrived and were still defiant. It involved being tightly bound and gagged and left in the pitch black lower cells for several days, the only contact you got with someone else was when a guard delivered water once a day, other than that you were totally alone in darkness and silence. He and Hiccup had only ever heard about it since they'd always been well-behaved and had never thought they'd experience it for themselves.

Terror clenched in his gut, only enhanced by the fact that he was facing this entirely alone, he desperately wanted to cry but he somehow couldn't do so. The Housemaster could only give him an apologetic look before signalling two men who came and took him away.

* * *

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

Snotlout snapped awake and then sighed, yet another one of his memory dreams.

Hookfang rumbled and the teen patted the dragon's head, "Just another one of my dreams Hookfang."

The Nightmare nuzzled him comfortingly and curled around him slightly tighter, Snotlout smiled and gently massaged Hookfang's usual spot causing him to rumble contentedly.

They were both in Snotlout's parent's hut, down on the ground floor which was about the only place Hookfang could fit. They'd come there after the party and his dad had offered to make up a proper bed for him but Snotlout had simply smiled and said he hadn't slept in a bed for years so he'd be fine. His parents had fussed and worried around him for ages, wanting to pour as much love and attention onto him as possible but he eventually convinced them that he would be fine. He'd felt so warmed by it all, he'd drifted off to sleep with ease but then the memory had surfaced to disturbed his rest.

As always, he felt the need to find Hiccup right away, until now, that had been easy to do, they'd always slept back to back and often both woke when one of them had disturbed slumber. However, Hiccup was with his own parents right now and Snotlout didn't want to disturb them.

A light tapping came from the door and the teen smiled as he recognised the rhythm, he padded over and gently opened it to reveal the expected sight of Hiccup and Toothless. The older cousin immediately entered, "I knew something was wrong."

Many would've been slightly creeped out by such a statement but Snotlout simply nodded, they'd always known when something was bothering the other. They walked over to Hookfang together and Toothless went straight to the Nightmare and nuzzled him, the two dragons had a relationship that was very similar to the cousins' own, likely another reason they'd bonded so well with them. The two boys sat back to back and Snotlout spoke first, "Do your parents know you're here? They might freak out if they wake up and find you're gone."

He could sense Hiccup's smile as he answered, "We were actually still awake, I just told them I needed to see you and that I'd maybe be gone until morning. Dad seemed confused but Mom said it was fine."

They sat in silence for a bit, feeling happier now that the other boy was there, until Snotlout spoke quietly, "I thought that being with my family would make it easier to be separated, I mean, I know how much they love me and that their so happy I'm back and so am I, but I still don't like it when we're not together."

"We've spent years in each other's constant company." Hiccup answered, "We both knew that we wouldn't simply shed our co-dependency, even when we were back home. In time, I'm sure we'll form similar bonds with our families again so that it will be easier. I don't think we're ever going to completely shed it but I don't really want to."

Snotlout grinned at that, "I don't want to either." He then frowned, "But what is the rest of the village going to think?"

It was a worry that had crossed both their minds, their relationship was very close because of what they'd been through. It was hardly a conventional friendship and it was far more intimate than some family relationships were, it was built on deep trust and dependency fostered over years and while not romantic in the slightest, it was that level of care. How Berk would react to it was unknown and it wouldn't be long before they noticed it, they feared the villages reaction.

Hiccup placed his hand on Snotlout's and answered, "They'll think what they'll think, we'll just get through it together the way we've always done. Though this time, I think we have our parents on our side as well."

The younger cousin grinned, remembering how lovingly his family had treated him since his return, "You're right, it'll be a breeze compared with what we've already handled."

Tiredness began to make itself known once again and Snotlout lay down on the floor, Hiccup doing likewise behind him. The dragons curled round them and soon, the cousins drifted into sleep, unworried about the coming days.

* * *

 _ **PS-Next time, we may see a bit more of what the village thinks as the cousins adjust to being back home. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	9. Readjustments and Changes

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello and welcome to the next chapter. This one mostly looks at people's thoughts on what is going on and it mentions some items of interest. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

In the days that followed, the close bond between the cousins became more apparent to the village.

Their parents, naturally, noticed it first but as time went by, more and more people realised that it existed and opinions were formed. This was far from the only change, Hookfang and Toothless were now permanent residents and having two dragons was quite an adjustment, they came and went as they pleased, though usually sticking close to their riders, and while many Vikings still regarded them with suspicion, they couldn't really complain since the dragons weren't actually causing any problems. Some of the younger children were absolutely fascinated with them and their parents attempts to keep them away only made them more interested, the dragons lapped up the attention, and would quite happily let adventurous kids clamber all over them.

Hiccup and Snotlout spent a lot of time with their families, they found that being with them did lessen their need to be with each other, however, they still felt most comfortable together and that's where they were if they weren't with family. As of yet, they hadn't really spent time with their peers, they weren't sure of the other teens and said teens weren't exactly going out of their way to get to know them. For the moment, Snotlout and Hiccup were perfectly happy with the company of each other and their families.

* * *

Stoick sat in the Great Hall, choosing to join the communal dinner there instead of eating at home.

He smiled slightly as he watched Wolflout chat excitedly with Hiccup and Snotlout. Since their return, the boy had stuck to his big brother like glue, unlike many brothers, Snotlout indulged the boy, listening to his excited chatter and happily playing with him. Hiccup was equally as welcoming and he fully joined in with their games and antics, Wolflout had no fear when it came to the dragons and had ridden Hookfang and Toothless several times (accompanied of course). Chibiterasu shared his owner's enthusiasm and Stoick had seen the wolf pup playing with the dragons many times, with all three animals looking like they were having a ball.

As usual, the two boys were sitting so close they were nearly in each other's laps, it was how they always sat even when there was space and once, when every seat was taken, Snotlout had actually sat on Hiccup's lap, much to the shock of everyone else around them. The truly bizarre thing was that they barely seemed to notice, personal space just didn't seem to be a concept between them. They'd sit right beside each other, walk shoulder to shoulder, lean against each other, somehow communicate things through just touch and when Snotlout had sat in Hiccup's lap, the older boy had just continued his conversation like nothing unusual was happening. They were more relaxed about physical contact than most courting couples yet it was clear there was absolutely no romance involved, no matter what some villagers were muttering.

The closeness of their bond slightly bewildered Stoick but he did his best to understand it, something that Valka seemed to already.

Very quickly, he'd got used to the fact that some nights Hiccup would suddenly announce he was going to see Snotlout and not reappear until morning, sometimes Snotlout would suddenly appear at their door during the night and Valka would just point him upstairs and that was that. Several times, Stoick had awoken in the morning just to find two dragons downstairs, curled around his son and nephew who were sleeping back to back.

All in all, he'd reached the stage that he was just accepting these events, neither boy had yet opened up about what had happened to them but it clearly made them form this strangely intimate bond.

For the moment, he was just happy to accept it.

* * *

Spitelout was also sorting out Snotlout's changes.

He wouldn't have expected his son to be gone this long and not have changed but the kinds of changes were unexpected. His closeness to Hiccup was surprising in how intimate it was, the two boys knew each other inside out and it showed in their interactions.

He'd also noted a lot of smaller details that hinted towards some of what they'd experienced. Barely noticeable things like Snotlout showing tiny signs of unease when in a dark, enclosed space, the way he minutely flinched when someone who wasn't Hiccup or family touched him, how his eyes would regularly check for his cousin's whereabouts when they were separate and the way he would stand so as to best protect certain areas of his body subtly when interacting with a stranger. He also noticed Hiccup's instinctive responses, the brief squeezing of his cousin's hand, his own regular checks on Snotlout's whereabouts, the barely noticeable moving in front of him as added protection and light touch of a finger that you wouldn't see unless you were looking.

Unfortunately, other Jorgensons had noticed some of these things as well.

Despite it not being his intention, Snotlout was now the clan's future head, as Spitelout's eldest son and of the only line that still had a direct connection to Jorgen, he would be expected to continue the Jorgenson legacy. Until now, Spinelout, one of Snotlout's more distant cousins, held that position. He was slightly older than Snotlout but his family line wasn't directly connected to Jorgen, Wolflout had been considered too young and was still technically a second son, so the clan had insisted on Spinelout being the next clan head as the next best first-born son. With Snotlout re-appearing, he had taken that position back by default but the clan (particularly Spinelout's family) had stated their concerns about this, Snotlout's close relationship with Hiccup was now under close scrutiny and his 'un-Jorgensonness' was considered detrimental to their clan's pride.

In all honesty, Spitelout wouldn't mind letting Spinelout take that position and he was getting the impression that Snotlout wouldn't either, unfortunately, clan tradition stated that it had to be Snotlout unless he was dead, missing from Berk or no longer a part of the clan and Spitelout did not want his son kicked out of the clan. This left things in a precarious position, traditional Jorgensons would take opportunities to smear Snotlout's name in order to have a more 'Jorgenson-esque' leader, they wanted Spinelout as future clan head and it was no secret that Spinelout himself wanted that position. Things could get messy unless Spitelout kept on top of it and if the Spinelout supporters started causing problems, it could start to drastically affect the village as a whole.

Regardless, Spitelout was overjoyed to have his son home again and he'd be damned if he let clan politics take him away again.

* * *

Astrid idly fiddled with her food as she sat in the Great Hall.

Ever since Hiccup and Snotlout's return, the village gossip chains had been buzzing. Astrid's mother was a keen participant in said chains and the girl had heard most of the theories and rumours that were flying around. They were the hot topic of the month and it wasn't limited to the gossipers.

Across from her sat Ruffnut and Tuffnut, beside her was Fishlegs and they'd been watching the two cousins for some time.

"I'm telling you, they're so dating."

Ruffnut rolled her eyes at her brother, "Hello, they're both guys and guys don't date guys."

Tuffnut argued, "But look at the way they keep touching each other, holding hands, spending all their time together…even lap sitting!"

Fishlegs nervously spoke into the conversation, "There could be any number of reasons they're that close, shared trauma, survival forcing them together, they could even have been in a culture that's far more intimate than ours."

"Then why are they only touchy-feely with each other?" The male twin pointed out, "They treat everyone else pretty normally."

Ruffnut frowned, "It's not very Viking of them, I mean, they kind of look like wimps being so close with each other."

Her brother leaned back casually, "When I'm chief, I'll ban people from being wimps."

Astrid sighed, "You're not going to be chief Tuffnut."

He sat upright, "Wait, I'm not! Are they making you chief?"

Fishlegs answered him, "None of us are going to be chief."

Ruffnut scratched her head in confusion, "Why not? I thought we were the only choices available."

"Yes, but Hiccup has come back." Fishlegs explained, "As Stoick's son he's Berk's heir, now he's back he automatically becomes the next chief, we were only being considered because everyone thought he was dead."

"But, since he's alive, we're no longer candidates for chieftainship." Astrid finished.

The twins threw up their hands, "What! Just because he's back, we're suddenly of no interest?"

"And why does he get to be chief? He's barely lived here, it doesn't seem fair to me."

Fishlegs shrugged, "Personally, I'm quite happy that I'm no longer being considered for position of heir. At least now I won't my uncle constantly breathing down my neck about it."

Astrid folded her arms, "But they do make a good point, why should someone who's barely lived here be considered heir. We don't know why Hiccup and Snotlout have been gone so long but they certainly haven't learned much about the village, shouldn't Hiccup at least prove himself first."

Fishlegs paled slightly, "But Berk's law states that the mantle of chief passes from father to eldest son, unless there is no son or the chief himself declares him unsuitable. Hiccup meets the criteria."

Ruffnut smirked, "She just wants the chief title for herself, I mean, she always acts like she's in charge of us."

Astrid glared, "That's not why I'm saying this, I just think that Hiccup should prove he has what it takes to be heir instead of just automatically giving him the title. We don't even know if he'll act like a proper Viking."

In the silence that followed her words, Tuffnut spoke up, "Well, Thawfest is coming up, that'll show if he's a real Viking or not."

* * *

It took only a touch on his arm for Snotlout to let Hiccup know they were being watched.

The older cousin casually looked in the direction of the other teens and saw them all talking, most likely about them. Beside him, Snotlout muttered quietly, "Looks like they're talking about us as well, I don't think they really like us."

Concerned about the people all around them, Hiccup switched languages, " _Dad said they were all being considered as potential heirs before we came back, that might be why they don't like us very much, seeing as I'm automatically heir now._ "

Snotlout didn't bat an eyelid at the sudden linguistic change, over the course of their slavery they'd picked up about five languages and could switch between them easily. Sometimes they could have an entire conversation while cycling through the languages they knew, it was a good way to stop people overhearing their conversations.

Snotlout responded in kind, " _My dad mentioned it as well, he also said that things were pretty unsettled within our clan and in the village as a whole. I think most people are continually watching what we do and evaluating us, I know my clan is anyway._ "

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, asking his cousin to explain further and the boy did so, " _Long story short, one of my cousins-whatever-amount-removed, Spinelout, was in line to be head of the clan after my dad. Of course, I came back and took that spot upsetting him and his family, others in the clan don't think I'm 'Jorgenson' enough to be head of the clan and they're looking for anything to prove me 'unsuitable' for the role._ " He sighed, " _I would be perfectly fine with letting him have it but family tradition won't allow it to happen unless I'm dead, missing or kicked out of the clan._ "

Hiccup grimaced, " _I never knew how complicated clan politics were._ " He frowned, " _What else don't we know about our own home?_ "

"Big brother?"

They both looked to the side to see Wolflout staring at them in confusion and Snotlout grinned, "Sorry Wolfy, we were just talking in a different language."

The boy's eyes widened, "You know another language?"

Hiccup grinned, with just a hint of pride, "Five other languages actually, the one we were just using comes from the far south of the Continent."

Wolflout leaned forward eagerly, "Continent?"

"A really, really big island hundreds of thousands of miles wide, it's so big it takes months to travel across it." Snotlout explained.

The boy's eyes grew even bigger, "Really, it's that huge!?"

Hiccup nodded, "Really, though it's not as good as Berk."

Snotlout snorted, "Not even close."

His curiosity sparked, Wolflout began asking them questions about the Continent and the cousins put aside their concerns as they continued to speak with him.

* * *

 _ **PS-So a few things of tribal issues mentioned there as the boys continue to adjust. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello and sorry for the long wait. We're finally onto the next chapter we take a quick look back at the past before carrying on with events of the present. Since I haven't made it very clear so far, the present day is set around the same time as HTTYD 1 and respective series. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter Ten**

 _Estate of Lord Barri-Years Ago_

Darkness and silence, Hiccup's only companions as he sat in isolation.

As ordered by Eurion, he'd been left tightly bound and gagged and only received water once a day, other than that, he was alone. He had no sense of time and no idea how long he'd been there and it was only made worse by the fact that he knew Snotlout was going through exactly the same thing.

He'd briefly seen his cousin being shoved into a cell further down, the younger boy had already been gagged and could only give the older cousin a brief look of terror before disappearing. Hiccup had heard nothing about him since and he was scared for his cousin. The need to be with him was stronger than ever and he'd promised himself that he'd do his best to protect Snotlout, he was the older one and needed to look after the younger boy no matter what, he had to be with him.

Hiccup suddenly heard the door rattling and he was nearly blinded as it swung open, flooding the cell with light. Someone crouched over him and he felt all his bonds being untied and his gag being removed, he looked up to see the face of the Housemaster and the man merely gestured towards the door. Obediently, Hiccup stood and walked out and found himself being escorted back to the normal slave cells, it seemed Eurion had decided their isolation was over. He was brought back to the one he'd once shared with Snotlout and the Housemaster left him, moments later, he was back with Snotlout and Hiccup stared in shock. The Housemaster spoke briefly, "Lord Barri has returned and has overruled his son's commands, you're allowed to have the same cell again."

With that, he left the two cousins who took a moment or two to realise what he'd said. Then, Snotlout let out a sob and ran to his cousin, Hiccup pulled him into a hug and the two boys sank to the ground in relief at being back together again. Despite their ease with physical contact, they very rarely hugged, why, they weren't sure but it took a lot of emotional turmoil for them to hug. Snotlout was sniffling slightly and Hiccup could feel tears from his own eyes, slowly, they settled down but neither one wanted to let go of the other just yet. They lay on the floor of their cell, their eyelids heavy. Constant separation had made sleep difficult for them, being bound in isolation on top of that had made it nearly impossible and now they were exhausted, slowly, their eyes slipped shut.

Still hugging, they fell into their first decent sleep in a long time.

* * *

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

Laughter rang out around the table in the home of the chief as Valka finished telling an embarrassing story about her brother, "And then, he tripped and launched his plate all over Helga, it was the funniest date I'd ever seen."

Spitelout was blushing furiously, "Valka! Why did you have to tell them that?"

Hiccup and Snotlout were laughing uproariously and Stoick and Gobber were chuckling away, "That's what comes with having a wee sister Spitelout." The blacksmith pointed out, "Ye can guarantee they'll remember every embarrassing thing ye ever did."

Stoick's hut was very full that evening. Since Hiccup and Snotlout spent so much time together, their families decided to spend more time together as well. They were doing so by meeting up in one of their huts for a meal on a regular basis and since Gobber was basically family to Stoick and Valka, he came along to. Most of them were sat around the table but Wolflout had excused himself to go and play with Toothless, he and the Night Fury were batting a ball along the floor to each other and seemed to be getting endless enjoyment out of the very simple game. Chibiterasu was curled up on the floor with Hookfang curled around him and both were happily asleep.

All in all, it was a very happy scene and everyone was pretty content. Still bright red, Spitelout muttered audibly, "Why do I like my sister again?"

Valka laughed and patted her brother's arm, "Oh don't be like that, you know it was just a one-off Mr Thawfest-Champion-every-time-he-competed."

The reminder of his past victories cheered him up and the man grinned, "Aye, that's me. Yearly champion!" He looked thoughtful, "Come to think of it, that's coming up soon."

Snotlout frowned slightly, "Thawfest…isn't that the competition thing?"

Stoick nodded, "Aye, you might not remember it well. It's an annual event where the youth of Berk compete against each other in three events to show off their strength and skill. Your father was Champion every time he competed."

Hiccup scratched his head, "I think I kind of remember that as well."

A sudden yawn from Wolflout attracted Helga's attention and she stood, "I hadn't realised how late it was. I really need to get someone to bed."

The boy protested, even as he rubbed his eyes sleepily, "I'm not tired."

His mother scooped him up anyway, "Yes you are, a Viking needs his rest. Especially a growing one." She looked to her husband, "Are you going to stay a bit longer?"

Spitelout nodded, "Aye love, see you back home." He stood and quickly kissed Wolflout's forehead, "Goodnight boyo."

The boy was already too asleep to answer and Helga quickly kissed her husband before nodding farewell to the others. Chibiterasu had awoken and trotted out on her heels as she left the house to head home with her youngest. Valka also stood, "I think I might turn in early as well." She kissed Stoick's cheek, "Don't get too rowdy boys."

Her husband smiled, "See you soon love."

Bidding a quiet goodnight, Valka vanished into her and Stoick's room leaving them all to it. Hiccup continued the conversation, "So who's competing in Thawfest this year?"

The three men shared a look before Gobber answered, "Well…the twins, Astrid, Fishlegs and you two."

"Wait, what!" Snotlout stared in surprise, "We're competing?"

Stoick nodded, "Aye, you're both at the right age and you're Berkian children, you're expected to compete."

Spitelout frowned, "To be honest, it hadn't actually occurred to me until you mentioned it." He smiled, "But there's no need to worry, I'm sure you'll both do fine and I'm more than happy to help you get ready for it."

The chief smiled as well, "And it's still a few weeks away, no need to even think about it just yet."

They all jumped as someone burst in the door and they turned to see one of the night watchmen standing in the doorway, "Stoick, a dragon is in the village!"

Toothless and Hookfang both sat upright and Stoick was immediately on his feet, "Has it attacked anyone?"

The man shook his head, "Not yet but its growling and snapping at anyone who gets too close."

The chief strode towards the door, Spitelout and Gobber right behind him, Hiccup and Snotlout immediately followed with their own dragons right behind them. Stoick paused as if to tell them to stay then simply nodded before carrying on into the village.

* * *

They found the dragon, a blue-scaled Nadder, in the main square, it had its tail spiked up and was growling ferociously at everyone who was watching. Many Vikings were already armed to attack but Stoick's voice held them back, "Stand down!"

They did as ordered (with some reluctance) but the Nadder remained on edge, the chief looked to his son, "Hiccup?"

The boy frowned, "It doesn't seem to be here to attack or steal food, it's pretty defensive but doesn't seem to want to attack unless we get too close."

Snotlout had also been watching carefully and he spoke up, "It seems to be confused, I'm not sure it really knows where it is."

Hiccup nodded, "You're right, but we can't do anything about it while its defensive like this." He signalled Toothless, "Okay bud, let's do this."

Snotlout did the same with Hookfang, "Right Hookfang, no flames, we don't want to set the village on fire."

As one, both boys darted forwards as their dragons flanked the Nadder, the dragon roared and launched some spines but Hookfang batted them aside with his tail. Toothless nipped in and grabbed the Nadder's tail and pinned it to the ground, Hookfang came from the front and pinned the head, holding the mouth closed to stop it breathing fire. Within moments, Hiccup and Snotlout were on either side of the neck and, in unison, struck it at the same time. The Nadder's eyes rolled and fell shut and the two dragons released their hold, it was still breathing but it was completely unconscious and the onlookers could only stare.

The whole thing had taken moments and it had been accomplished without prior planning, all four had moved as if they knew exactly what the others were doing and their synchronisation was slightly frightening.

The cousins were carefully running their hands over the Nadder's body, looking for signs of injury which might've caused it to become confused and aggressive, the older one frowned, "Well she's not injured in any way, so why did this happen?"

Snotlout rubbed the back of his neck, "Did something happen at the nest?"

"Maybe." Hiccup clapped his hands, "Only one way to find out."

* * *

 _ **PS-And it's off to the nest! Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Author's Notes:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter. Here it is, the answers you've been waiting for on why the dragons suddenly stopped attacking. Thank you all for your continued support and please check out my other story 'Aurora-Magicka'.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

Silence reigned as Toothless and Hookfang soared over the ocean.

After Hiccup announced his and Snotlout's intention to find the Dragon's Nest, Stoick and Spitelout had insisted that they accompany them. The village had of course been entirely against the idea but Stoick had put his foot down and stubbornly deflected all arguments. He'd left strict instructions (at Hiccup's request) that no one was to harm the Nadder while they were gone, even if that wouldn't stop some, the dangerous look on the cousin's faces that suggested dire repercussions should anyone do otherwise caused everyone to banish such thoughts from their heads.

Stoick had sat with Hiccup on Toothless while Spitelout joined his son on Hookfang, both men marvelled at actually flying and much of the early journey had been filled with them gazing about in awe and wonder before the seriousness of their mission sunk in once more. Stoick had filled Hiccup in on the fog and the many failed searches for the nest, the boy had nodded and suggested that having dragons would help them overcome that obstacle. After that, they flew in silence and they gradually got closer.

Eventually, Stoick frowned and looked down at the ocean, "I'm certain we're where the fog usually is."

Spitelout nodded, "Aye, it's not the same as being on a ship but I'm sure this whole area was covered by fog when we last came through."

Snotlout briefly looked at his father, "When was the last time any ship came out here?"

The chief thought briefly, "About three months ago."

Hiccup spoke up, "So before the raids stopped."

"Aye son, we decided it was best to leave the dragons be if they weren't raiding us anymore, no point risking lives needlessly."

Hiccup hummed thoughtfully and fell silent, they stayed that way for a few moments before Snotlout gave a shout, "I think that's it!"

Ahead of them loomed a tall volcano and even in the darkness they could see shapes flying around it, Spitelout narrowed his eyes, "That's got to be the nest."

Hiccup motioned Toothless downwards, "It is, now let's take this carefully, we don't know how the dragons are going to react to us."

The two dragons soared downwards in perfect sync, coming into land upon the island's beach. Around the mountain flew hundreds of dragons but not a single one seemed to notice their presence, as he dismounted Hookfang, Snotlout looked up at them, "That's weird, surely they'd have noticed us?"

Stoick watched them, "They're just flying around in circles, they're not even trying to defend their territory."

Hiccup had scrambled up onto a set of large boulders and he called back from his perch, "I think I know why."

They all hurried to join him and they gaped at the sight before them.

"What is that!?"

Protruding from a vast opening, that had seemingly been rammed open, was the vast head of the biggest dragon they'd ever seen. Its immense jaw was more than large enough to swallow a longship whole, six, huge eyes graced the rock like head and a bony frill protruded from the neck. It lay on the beach and didn't even stir as the four Vikings cautiously approached it, Stoick and Spitelout wrinkled their noses as they neared a massive pile of rotten food near the beast but the two boys were seemingly unfazed by the smell.

Hiccup stared up in wonder, "I think this is the nest's queen."

He gently touched the mighty head and the dragon rumbled as the eyes flickered open, the beast began stirring as if to remove the Vikings but suddenly gave up and shut its eyes once more. Snotlout spoke sadly, "I think she's dying."

Stoick folded his arms, "But what does this have to do with the rest of the dragon's behaviour? And why haven't they eaten any of this food?"

"Because it's for the queen." Hiccup answered, "I'm not sure but I think she's why they raided Berk all the time, a dragon this size would need a vast amount of food to survive so she must be able to force other dragons to get it for her, Berk was the biggest food source that was relatively near the nest so they kept raiding it."

Snotlout continued the explanation, "But now she's dying, the amount of food she needs has decreased so they don't need to raid the village anymore." He looked up at the circling dragons, "As she got weaker, she couldn't control the other dragons as well as she used to so now they're just confused, her control over them hasn't fully broken but it's not making anything clear to them either."

Spitelout gazed upwards as well, "So they're basically in a sort of trance that won't break until she dies."

"That's why the Nadder was acting the way it was as well." Hiccup added, "It might have come from the island but was disorientated when it left the range of the queen, it had no idea what was going on so it became defensive."

Stoick frowned, "What happens when the queen finally dies?"

His son shrugged, "The dragons will go back to normal after a couple of days' recovery I guess, there won't be a reason for them to raid the village anymore either since they'll only have to feed themselves." He looked at the queen, "It might be best to finish it now, she's slowly starving to death and I don't think she'll ever recover. It'll stop her suffering."

Stoick frowned then squared his shoulders, "Then that's what we'll do."

Spitelout looked at him in surprise, "Stoick?"

The chief spoke decisively, "We always thought that destroying the nest would stop the raids for good, now it seems that this dragon is the reason we've been at war since Berk's beginning. From what I've seen with Toothless and Hookfang, we can live peacefully with dragons so long as there isn't something forcing us to fight. As Hiccup says, if this dragon goes, there's nothing forcing the dragons to attack us anymore."

The Jorgenson shrugged, "Well, you're the chief so if you think its best, then I'm behind you."

Stoick nodded gratefully and stepped towards the queen, then Hiccup suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Dad, wait!"

The chief looked down at his son who fixed him with a serious look, "I think this is something the dragons have to do."

Stoick looked to Hookfang and Toothless and saw them both wearing determined expressions, he got the sudden sense that something deeper was happening here and he nodded, "You're right."

Hiccup nodded gratefully and then looked to the two dragons, they both moved as one towards the dying queen, ready to grant her peace.

* * *

Dawn was breaking as they slowly flew towards Berk.

Stoick could barely believe what had happened that night, how a war lasting centuries had ended in such a…quiet manner. There had been no great charge, no epic battle, just a mercy killing of a creature that had lived far too long.

Only time would reveal the exact effects of the queen's death but Stoick believed that change was indeed coming, they already had two dragons living in the village so the possibility of more hardly seemed to be an issue now. When they'd left the nest, the dragons were still confused and moving aimlessly about but some were already showing signs of more alertness and had given curious looks at their human visitors before they left.

As they landed in the square they were met with the odd sight of the Nadder awake and nosing about the immediate area, the Vikings nearby were baffled by the its docility and it gave what could only be a happy roar when Toothless and Hookfang landed. It ambled over and rumbled at them and the Night Fury happily answered. Before long, all three dragons were romping around the square without a care in the world and the Vikings could only stare.

Hiccup grinned, "Well, looks like the Nadder is fully recovered."

Stoick shook his head in amazement at the sight then noticed his son giving a huge yawn, "You should get some sleep Hiccup."

The boy rubbed his eyes, "Yeah, you're right."

He began ambling off towards the house and, unsurprisingly, Snotlout went with him, Spitelout watched them go with a smile, "I guess I'll find my son at your house later then."

Stoick smiled as well, "I don't think they're going to change anytime soon, I think they've been together for far too long to ever truly separate."

The Jorgenson agreed, "Aye, I don't know exactly what they've been through but their bond is strong. Woe betide anyone who tries to break it."

The chief nodded sagely, "Woe betide indeed."

He looked around and saw several council members already heading his way, no doubt intending to find out exactly what had happened. With a sigh, he resigned himself to a very long council meeting before getting to bed, they needed to hear what had happened and they had to discuss what their plan of action was going to be. Hopefully, he'd be able to dissuade people from attacking dragons on sight, as proven by the Nadder, dragons could become allies provided you treated them right.

Now just to convince others of that.

* * *

 _ **PS-Yes a far less dramatic ending for the queen but she was over 300 years old so I think she would've died soon, even if Hiccup hadn't defeated her in the movie. Please let me know what you thought and do check out my other story.**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter. We now start to see the beginnings of the Dragon Academy but don't worry, this isn't going to become a rehash of the series with slight differences. I've also got another story called 'Lost Family' that I've just started, its to be a series of oneshots of another HTTYD AU so please give that a look as well. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

Over the days that followed, drastic changes started to happen.

Before they knew it, they had dragons roaming around all over the place. Stoick had related what had happened at the nest to the council and then the village, he'd convinced them to give the dragons a chance and it had proven to be a wise decision. Dragons happily journeyed through the village and showed no interest in any of Berk's livestock, they seemed to prefer hunting their own fish and apart from the odd Terrible Terror, they didn't bother stealing from the Vikings. They also had no interest in attacking anyone unless they were attacked first and most people realised that if you didn't bother the dragons, the dragons wouldn't bother you.

There were issues to begin with but Stoick left them in Hiccup and Snotlout's hands and it wasn't long before the cousins worked out how work with the dragons and incorporate them into Berk's daily life. With this, Stoick put in place the Dragon Training Academy and put Hiccup in charge of all dragon related issues, discovering all about the dragons and how to work with them would be vital in the new Berk that was forming and he couldn't think of anyone better to handle it.

It also served another purpose, by being in charge of the Academy, Hiccup would be taking on a leadership role in the village. Stoick hoped that through this, both boys would learn more about the village they'd been away from for so long as well as prove to the unconvinced that they were definitely a part of Berk. Of course, an Academy needed students and the two boys certainly needed others to give them a hand.

* * *

Snotlout yawned as he stood in the former training arena alongside Hookfang.

It was the first day of the newly established Dragon Training Academy and he and Hiccup were about to properly meet their peers, who were also the first Academy members.

Beside him, Hiccup grinned, "Still sleepy huh?"

The younger boy shrugged, "You know I take longer to get fully awake than you." He sensed the older boy's unease, "I know we haven't even spoken to them yet, but they surely can't be that bad."

Hiccup fiddled with his sleeve, "I just hope that none of them are going to come with their own agenda, the village is still wondering about us and some do still resent me suddenly reappearing. They'd love to get their hands on anything that could make me look bad."

Snotlout rolled his eyes, "Tell me about it, at least none of them will be Jorgensons. They judge everything I do as critically as possible and Spinelout is not even bothering to be subtle with his comments on my 'inadequacies'."

Hiccup smirked, "Does he even know what 'inadequacies' means?"

The younger cousin returned the smirk, "Don't think so, all he knows is that it means something bad and sounds impressive."

The boys laughed a bit but quickly stopped when the first of their 'students' arrived.

Fishlegs trundled in nervously, clutching several books in his arms that were likely filled with dragon knowledge, he eyed Hookfang and Toothless fearfully and Hiccup just suppressed a sigh, "Its fine Fishlegs, neither of them are going to hurt you unless you give them a reason to."

As he tentatively came closer, Astrid arrived confidently behind him, she strode into the arena casually carrying her axe and Snotlout raised an eyebrow, "I thought we passed the word round that you weren't supposed to bring any weapons?"

She looked at him in surprise and shrugged, "My mom never said anything about that, I can leave it to one side."

She put the axe down in a distant corner and joined the others near the centre, Hiccup frowned, "Where are the twins?"

His question was answered by a clattering noise and the arrival of said twins via rolling into the arena, they appeared to be tussling with each other and they both stopped and blinked at the other teens.

"Oh, hi."

"What's up."

They quickly disengaged and stood and Hiccup got started, "Okay then, now we're all here, let's get started!"

He gestured around them, "As you probably all know, with the death of the queen, dragons are no longer raiding Berk for food. However, they are spending more time in and around the village so we need to learn everything we can about them in order to live alongside them peacefully. For that reason, my dad and the council have started the Dragon Training Academy and our first lesson will be getting you guys your own dragon." He looked to Toothless, "Do you think you could go get them bud?"

The Night Fury warbled at him and proceeded to head for the arena entrance, Hookfang, who'd been napping, immediately lifted his head but a reassuring rumble from Toothless stopped him following the Night Fury. A few moments later, Toothless came back with a couple of dragons following him.

One was the Nadder that had arrived on the night of the queen's death, the other two were a Zippleback and a Gronckle that had arrived the following day. All three dragons had been pretty comfortable around humans and had hung around the village a lot of the time.

Fishlegs eyed them uncertainly, "Umm…what are you wanting us to do?"

Snotlout laughed slightly, "Bond with them of course, you might not have realised it but these dragons have taken an interest in each of you already."

Astrid frowned, "What are you talking about?"

The boy pointed at the dragons, "Just look at them."

Both he and Hiccup had learned a very long time ago how to read both people and dragons, they'd noticed over the last couple of days how these dragons seemed keen to bond with the other teens. The Nadder had spent an awful lot of time hanging around near Astrid's house, it had also taken to following the girl from a distance and wasn't bothered by the axe she usually carried around. The Gronckle had been entirely fascinated with Fishlegs, she'd quite happily sat nearby and watched as he read his books, she'd also kept moving subtly closer to him throughout these periods and was even now staring at him with the biggest puppy eyes Snotlout had ever seen. The Zippleback had taken to replicating some of the twins' interaction, the head bumps were a favourite and the dragon had also surreptitiously assisted them in a couple of their pranks, how helpful they'd actually been was another matter but they did try.

Now, all three dragons were looking at their possible riders hopefully and it seemed the teens were starting to notice. Astrid looked to Hiccup, "So how do we tame them?"

"Bond with, not tame." Hiccup stated, "Taming a dragon, or indeed any living thing, involves breaking their spirit and will, usually through torture, imprisonment and starvation. What you get is a mindless slave and that's not what we want dragons to be."

Snotlout scratched Hookfang's nose as he took up the explanation, "What you actually want is a friend and ally, it's the fairest and best way for everyone involved and it's how me and Hookfang work." He frowned, "Though he does play tricks on me quite a lot."

The Nightmare grinned mischievously and gave a little chuckle and Snotlout gave him a mock scowl as Hiccup finished, "The first thing you need to do is show the dragon trust, that's how it started for me and Snotlout and our dragons."

Fishlegs piped up, "That's something I've been meaning to ask. How did you guys bond with your dragons?"

The two cousins shared a brief look and came to a silent agreement before Hiccup answered, "It's a long story."

Ruffnut nudged her brother, "Classic question evasion there."

Tuffnut agreed, "Indeed, they don't seem that keen to share their own experience with us, even though it could be valuable in our own dragon bonding."

Hiccup frowned in annoyance, "Look, we're not going into the full tale of how we ended up meeting our dragons right now, but what we're telling you are some of the methods we used to bond with them."

Ruffnut kept pushing, "Sounds like you're keeping secrets."

"Will you guys just leave it!" Snotlout glowered at them, "We're supposed to be getting you guys bonded with a dragon, not telling you all about our past."

His voice held an edge that suggested they were on shaky ground and Astrid quickly cut in before the twins could push any further, "So, how do we show trust to the dragons?"

Hiccup's smile returned, "Quite easily actually. Firstly, its best if you're unarmed, that's why we said to leave any weapons behind and secondly, you have to approach the dragon openly, don't look threatening or aggressive and clearly show you're not a threat. Once you're close to the dragon, you do this." He held up his open palm and turned his eyes away, "Let the dragon close the remaining distance themselves, that's really important for its how they know you can be trusted." He clapped his hands, "So, who's going first?"

The twins immediately jumped forward, "I will!"

"No, me!"

"Hey, I said so first!"

"No, I did!"

Hiccup broke them up before it turned into a fight, "Guys! You can both go at once. The Zippleback has been showing a lot of interest in you two and he has two heads, that's one head each."

They pondered his words for a moment then grinned at each other and basically ran towards the dragon, abandoning everything Hiccup had just said. Instead of getting upset, the Zippleback ran to meet him and somehow, the resulting collision enabled both parties to bond rather well, leaving Hiccup just a little perplexed.

Fishlegs followed Hiccup's instructions and although he needed a bit of 'encouragement' (Snotlout shoved him towards the Gronckle), he soon bonded with the dragon. Astrid did it all quite confidently and soon she and the Nadder were getting along famously.

Hiccup and Snotlout watched the whole thing and the younger boy nudged his cousin, "Told you it wouldn't be that bad.

* * *

From the spectator seats, Stoick had watched the first lesson.

Beside him, Gobber shook his head, "Vikings learning how to befriend dragons, who'd have thought."

Stoick smiled, "Certainly not us, we're finally looking at a chance for proper peace and it's all because those two didn't grow up here."

"Aye, they're certainly changing things for the better around here." The blacksmith commented, "And something tells me they're going to cause even more changes." He looked at his friend curiously, "Have either of them actually said what happened to them?"

The chief frowned, "Only bits and pieces, there's still a lot they're not telling us yet."

Gobber shrugged, "Give it time, I'm sure they'll tell ye everything sooner or later. For now, let's just help them sort out this new, dragon-friendly Berk."

Stoick silently agreed, Hiccup had told him a bit about their kidnapping and a little of their time as slaves but he was obviously leaving a lot out, he'd seen some indications in Snotlout's behaviour that suggested some very worrying happenings in the past but Spitelout had said to wait until the boy felt ready to reveal it. For now, it did seem best to help them help the village get used to having dragons around all the time. A sudden thought came to mind.

"Gobber. What do you think about introducing dragon events to the Thawfest Games?"

* * *

 _ **PS-So the other riders now have their dragons. Please let me know what you thought and I hope to update soon.**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello and welcome to another chapter. This one is mostly set back in time but the last couple of chapters have been focused on present day Berk so it'll make a change. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **Warning-Though nothing is explicitly described, this chapter does heavily imply sexual abuse.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

 _Estate of Lord Bressal-A few years ago_

Things had changed for the cousins over the last few years.

Their former master, Lord Barri, had hit upon hard times. A series of bad and unfortunate decisions and events had caused him to lose favour with higher up lords, this loss of favour meant a loss of wealth which meant a need to sell assets to prevent bankruptcy. These assets included his slaves and Snotlout and Hiccup had been some of the first to be sold on, they didn't have any vital duties so it was counter-productive economically to keep them, so they were sold.

Their new owner was something of a 'scientist', with an interest in the interactions of 'barbarian' races, the cousins' co-dependency was of great interest to him and he'd bought them to study it further. It wasn't a particularly difficult time to begin with, they were pretty much left to their own devices in their fairly large cell, but they were observed by people taking notes at all times. While being observed during normally private tasks, such as washing, wasn't anything new (the slave baths at Lord Barri's had been a single, shared pool), the constant eyes upon them was unsettling.

Eventually they got used to it but then their owner started his 'experiments'. To begin with, they'd just been given different items and watched as they interacted with them, these included, toys, books, writing tools, clothing and even the odd piece of armour and their observers would furiously take notes if the boys so much as looked at something. Other times they were left without anything for long periods and people seemed amazed when they simply used their imaginations to come up with things to do. This was then followed by more distressing experiments.

Their continual observers seemed to disappear and it remained like this for several days, then, random noises started to occur just as they were about to sleep. Instinctively, Hiccup and Snotlout moved closer to each other and their closeness staved off any anxiety and they learned to ignore the sounds as they pushed through together.

Then their owner did the worst thing and separated them.

Without the other cousin around, everything became more distressing, the noises could no longer be ignored and they started to pine for each other. Their anxiety grew and grew and more than once they started to cry. Eventually, they were put back into the same cell and they didn't go more than three feet from each other for several days. The experiments may have continued but Lord Bressal took an interest in them and they found themselves changing owners once again.

Unlike Lord Barri, their new owner expected his slaves to work, it mostly wasn't too taxing, just the kind of serving work you'd expect in an estate, but they soon learned that their owner's visitors sometimes had slightly different views on what 'service' encompassed.

'Entertaining' their master's guests often involved wearing and doing certain things that the more reserved Lord Barri would never had considered, displaying their torsos was common and Snotlout's more muscular build attracted a lot of attention. He was probably far leaner than he might have been had he grown up on Berk, but he still had reasonably sized muscles naturally and people liked his build. It didn't help that they had to keep to a strict fitness regimen as ordered by their master, all of Lord Bressal's male slaves had to keep to it to develop toned bodies, in a similar vein to how someone would keep a horse in good shape to show off to their peers. Of course, this meant that Hiccup also developed muscles and many found his finer features more suited to their tastes.

No one actually laid a finger upon them, they were Lord Bressal's property after all, but they had learned enough to know what people were thinking when they stared at them. However, their master was far too respected for anyone to act upon their desires and he had declared them off limits due to their rarity, a much-appreciated shield for two boys who were only just becoming teenagers.

Unfortunately, that changed when Lord Colban appeared.

* * *

Colban and Bressal were two of the three lords closest to the Emperor, they were equal in wealth, power and influence. While not friends, they held a healthy respect for each other and were well aware that any disputes between them would cause major problems throughout the Empire's nobility, any meeting between them was a highly prestigious affair and required a level beyond that of normal noble gatherings.

Hiccup and Snotlout were servers at the feast, dressed in clothes that very much displayed their bodies, they stood ready near their master and his guest to bring anything that was required the moment it was asked for. Throughout the meal, Colban had kept an intense interest in Snotlout but it was some time before he actually commented on him.

"That's quite the interesting slave you've acquired, is he one of those Vikings from the far north?"

Bressal smiled smugly, "Indeed, I bought him along with another from Lord Viridius. He was studying them." He snorted, "A waste of time, these barbarians are only good as slaves." The Lord noted his peer's interest, "Does he appeal to you?"

Colban smiled lightly, "Indeed, perhaps you would allow me to make use of him while I am here?"

Bressal waved a hand dismissively, "But of course. I do not allow others such liberties, he is very rare after all, but you are the exception, take him for the duration of your stay."

Colban nodded thankfully, "Most generous of you." He turned his eyes upon Snotlout, "You will go to my chambers immediately boy and await me there."

The boy wanted to do anything but that, but as a slave he had no option. As such, he bowed and did as ordered, his insides squirming with fear the whole time.

* * *

Colban's visit lasted five days and Hiccup didn't see Snotlout once throughout that entire time.

He knew that the younger boy was in turmoil, it was a feeling he couldn't explain but knew to be true. He knew exactly what Colban wanted from his cousin, such things had happened to Bressal's other slaves before but they'd always been protected by their exclusiveness, now, that was not the case. They'd both heard rumours of Colban's 'hobbies' and Hiccup couldn't stop imagining what Snotlout was going through. They were both far too young, far too young to go through something like this, he had no idea what state his cousin would be in when he returned and Hiccup had no idea how to help him.

After five days, Snotlout was brought back into their shared cell.

The moment he saw Hiccup, he ran to the older boy and threw himself into his arms. Burying his face into Hiccup's chest, Snotlout sobbed in distress, desperate for comfort and a sense of security. The older boy did nothing but hold him, he'd seen the indications of the boy's ordeal but said nothing, he didn't try to speak empty words, nor give useless reassurances. He just held his cousin, letting him silently know that they would get through this, they would find a way together the way they always had done.

* * *

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

Spitelout watched his son worriedly, not knowing what to do.

Snotlout was muttering and whimpering in his sleep, clearly trapped in a distressing nightmare. The father had already tried to wake him up but the moment he touched the boy, Snotlout would cry out and shrink away, Hookfang was also trying to comfort his rider but all his nuzzles and comforting growls went unheeded. His heart breaking, Spitelout could only stand by helplessly. From Snotlout's cries, he had a very good idea of what the nightmare was about and his blood boiled even as his heart tore even more.

There was the sound of the front door and Spitelout didn't have to look to know it was Hiccup. The boy headed straight to his cousin without hesitation and lightly touched the boy's forehead.

"Snotlout."

Like magic, Snotlout's eyes shot open and Hiccup immediately pulled him into a hug which the younger boy buried himself into. Toothless and Hookfang curled around them both and they stayed that way, Hiccup had said no other words yet Spitelout could see his son already calming down. He sighed with relief and softly padded over, Snotlout looked up at his father who simply ruffled his son's hair, "Just call if you need me boyo."

The boy smiled gratefully, "Thanks dad."

Spitelout quietly padded away to his own room, leaving the door slightly ajar in case he was needed, and left the two boys be.

* * *

 _ **PS-A mention of one of the darker points of their slavery. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	14. Thawfest

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter. Apologies for being gone for a while but I got a Nintendo Switch with 'Legend of Zelda', enough said really. This chapter is entirely set in the present and goes through a variety of perspectives as we approach Thawfest. I have another AU called 'Lost Family' if anyone is interested and I'd really appreciate any feedback on it.**_

 _ **Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

"HOOKFANG!"

SPLASH!

Snotlout surfaced spluttering and he glared at his far too amused dragon, "You just had to do that, didn't you?"

The Nightmare simply grinned unrepentantly as his rider hauled himself out of the pond he'd been dropped into, "C'mon Hookfang, we need to get this trick sorted for Thawfest."

He heard laughter from the other side of the pond as Hiccup and Toothless found amusement in his unplanned dip, Snotlout gave them a mock scowl, "Just because you guys have your trick sorted."

Hiccup grinned, "C'mon Snotlout, you two have yours sorted as well, Hookfang's just having fun the way he always does."

The younger boy was wringing water out of his shirt as he answered, "I know but it's not perfect yet, we have to get it just right."

"Perfect?" Hiccup raised an eyebrow, "You're starting to sound like Astrid."

They'd discovered that Astrid always wanted to do things just right, be it warrior training or dragon training, less than her best was never acceptable and she was always trying to improve herself. To her credit, she was more than willing to put in the countless hours, day after day to do just that, her Nadder, Stormfly, shared her sentiments and their dedication was admirable, though her seeming obsession with self-improvement could be trying.

Snotlout frowned, "Please tell me I'm not that obsessed with this?"

Hiccup looked thoughtful, "Well…"

His cousin flung his soaked shirt and the older boy dodged it with a grin, "Okay, you're not that bad, but you do seem pretty focused on Thawfest."

The younger boy sighed, "I know, and it's kind of stupid really."

Hiccup sensed something was up, "Is the clan being pushy about it?"

Snotlout rolled his eyes, "Oh yes, they're being pushy. They keep reminding me about how my dad never lost once and talking about how this is the year the Jorgensons would take back the title." His expression darkened, "Like they're the ones actually competing."

"But surely your dad isn't being like them?" The older boy asked, "He's always the one that's calming them down and keeping their pride in check."

The younger cousin smiled, "Yeah he's doing that all right, he's even said that he doesn't care how well I do, just that I try my hardest." His smile fell slightly, "But I can tell that he really wants me to win, he always wanted me to continue his winning streak and time was he would've been as desperate for the glory as the rest of the clan. I think he's finding it hard to not give in to his competitiveness and pressure me."

Hiccup shrugged, "Of course he wants you to win, every parent wants their child to win. I know my dad does and he's even tried to subtly hint it." He grinned slightly, "Though it wasn't exactly that subtle and I think mom told him off for it afterwards." He smiled, "Either way, it's not something you need to worry about."

Snotlout sat down, "To be honest it's not so much the result as the games themselves I'm worried about." He began tossing rocks into the pond, "The whole village will be watching and I know people will be analysing everything we do, what we do right, what we do wrong, how well we compete…the list goes on." He leaned back, "The games are supposed to be when Berk's young people show off their 'Vikingness', everyone will be measuring us against the others to confirm or disprove their own conceptions of us." He sighed, "What they decide about us could remove or cause a lot of problems in the future."

Hiccup sat beside him, "Snotlout, worrying about it isn't going to change much, do you really believe that what the village thinks is going to change how our important family members treat us."

The younger boy smiled slightly, "No." He frowned, "But what about the other Dragon Riders?"

* * *

Astrid was at her usual spot in the woods, going through her own training for Thawfest.

Over the last few years, she'd been the reigning champion, usually winning with a perfect score. Her family had been incredibly proud of their daughter and she'd enjoyed the achievement but it soon became clear that it wasn't exactly a major thing for her, and that wasn't her being arrogant.

In all honesty, her competitors were hardly up to her standard, though it wasn't for the lack of trying.

Fishlegs was hardly the type for the events Thawfest provided, he used his brain far more than his muscles and use of weaponry was far from his area of expertise. He did his best but his best would never compete against Astrid's own, natural, advantage, a situation that never actually seemed to bother him.

The twins were their own worst enemy, continually letting themselves be distracted by their fights or desire for devastation. They usually ended up dead last simply because they did the events entirely wrong or became more interested in wreaking havoc. That being said, one year they'd been determined to beat each other because of an argument of theirs, the desire to beat their sibling lent them focus and Astrid had to fight hard that year to claim victory, showing her that they were a force to be reckoned with when properly motivated.

This year however, Hiccup and Snotlout were competing and they were a big unknown.

She'd seen first-hand how quickly they could move when they'd knocked out Stormfly and they were far from unfit. She hadn't seen them perform any of the Thawfest tasks but she wasn't going to write them off this early on and that wasn't taking into account the Dragon Events.

They had a clear advantage in those events, they had close bonds with their respective dragons and had been riding them far longer than the other riders. In terms of flying skills, Hiccup and Toothless were leagues ahead of them though she wouldn't be surprised if Snotlout and Hookfang had some tricks of their own to challenge them, she and Stormfly would be hard pressed to keep up.

Which was far from a bad thing.

After spending more time with them she'd really warmed up to the two cousins. She'd admittedly been rather unconvinced when they'd first returned but she'd found them to be genuinely good to be with, despite their bizarrely close relationship. Hiccup had actually taken on his role as head of the Academy very well and Snotlout had acted as his second with ease, they weren't perfect but she was hardly going to hold that against them, dragon training was still a large unknown to them all so incidents and mishaps were bound to happen. She was now at the point where she would much rather have either of them in charge than anyone else, even if she still knew very little about their past.

Because of this, she found herself greatly anticipating the Thawfest Games, the cousins were almost certainly going to prove serious competitors for her and it was a challenge she relished. She would need to be at the top of her game to win and even if she didn't, she'd hardly consider one of them winning a serious problem.

No matter what other people thought.

* * *

"C'mon Meatlug, faster girl!"

Buzzing through some sea stacks, the Gronckle panted happily as she rounded the obstacles, Fishlegs whooping on her back.

It was far from the fastest of flights but for the boy and his dragon, it was pretty fun. Meatlug swung around another stack and blasted a target on another one with her lava blast.

"Perfect shot girl!"

She wagged her tail happily and hovered upwards to land on the nearby cliffs, Fishlegs dismounted and immediately showered her with fuss, "Who's a good girl Meatlug, who's a beautiful Gronckle princess?"

For once, Fishlegs was actually looking forward to Thawfest. Every year he dreaded it because it involved everything he couldn't do and had long since accepted he'd not be the best at. Regardless of this, members of his clan had still expected him to somehow do well and the disappointment from them at his inevitable loss always hurt. His parents had never pressured him and they'd always made him feel better afterwards but he still disliked the whole thing.

Now though, Dragon Events had been added and he felt he could at least do well, even if he still didn't win. The other dragons may be faster and seemingly more spectacular than Meatlug but he knew how to play to her strengths, the trick competition could be where she'd really shine with her ability to fly any direction she pleased and they'd mostly been working on perfecting a killer move.

In all honesty, he'd never have had the courage to even try what they'd come up if Hiccup and Snotlout weren't around.

While his love of dragons and his memorising of their facts had annoyed others before, Hiccup had actively encouraged him to bring them up and they'd often geeked out over them together. Snotlout had also encouraged him to try more risky things and while not as gentle with it as Hiccup (see shoving him down the hill when he'd been sat in a sledge dithering about whether to go or not) Fishlegs had found his methods to sometimes be exactly what he needed to just try something.

Their influence had also been a big improvement on his relationship with the other teens. As about the only ones of the same age, they'd sort of hung out together more because there wasn't any other option, they each had their own things they'd rather be doing and their friendship had been loose at best. Ever since the Academy started though, they'd actually begun to want to spend more time together, dragon training giving all their varied interests a common ground in which to come together. He'd found himself training with Astrid, helping the twins to play a prank (just a minor one), teaching Snotlout some of the things about Berk he'd never got the chance to learn and geeking out over dragons with Hiccup. They'd gone from 'sort of friends' to 'close friends' in a very short space of time and it was purely because the cousins had brought about so many changes in the village.

Of course, there were those who weren't happy with the way things were going but Fishlegs was liking this new Berk, as far as he was concerned, it was a major improvement on what it had been and was only getting better. For once, he was actually looking forward to Thawfest and though he was still very unlikely to win it wasn't going to bother him as much this year, no matter what some of his relatives said.

He also couldn't wait to see some epic, new dragon moves.

* * *

Spitelout sat down with a groan and Helga spoke up from where she was making dinner.

"The clan giving you trouble again?"

He groaned a second time, "How does Stoick manage a whole village? I have enough trouble handling my own relatives."

She came over and gently rubbed his shoulders, "I'm guessing that they're all het up about Thawfest."

He sighed, "As always, one moment they're declaring that Snotlout is going to reclaim the Thawfest title for the Jorgensons and the next they're muttering about how much of a 'disappointment' he is. Of course, their constant bragging is annoying everyone else and more than a few of the other clans will probably pressure their own youths into winning in response, I'm doing my best to keep a lid on my lot but I can't really stop them since they're not actually doing anything wrong." He smiled, "But it looks like the kids are largely staying above it all." He frowned, "Though I think its bothering Snotlout slightly."

She hugged him round the neck, "I wouldn't worry too much, Hiccup's probably already put his mind at ease and he'll always have you no matter what happens."

He smiled, "You're right, but I still need to keep a tight leash on this, Spinelout's major supporters seem to be getting more discontented and Spinelout himself seems to have a slightly lax idea of 'acceptable methods' of getting what he wants."

Worry crossed Helga's face, "You think he'll try something?"

"Maybe." He patted her arm comfortingly, "But me and Stoick are keeping a close watch on him, we'll make sure to stop him if he does."

She sighed, "Why can't they just be happy that Snotlout's finally back home? He and Hiccup have done nothing but improve Berk since they arrived so why be so hostile to them?"

He squeezed her hand, "Because they've been taught that they have to be the best, no matter what. Generations of that kind of pressure makes some people blind to what they really should be. I should know, I wasn't that different before Snotlout disappeared."

She smiled, "Yet you learned." She kissed him, "Something I'm very happy about."

He smiled lovingly, "Thanks dear."

* * *

 _ **PS-While the teens are happy, the Jorgensons are not so convinced. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the first of the Thawfest chapters. Thawfest is probably going to last over a few chapters but it is going to differ considerably from both my other AU and canon. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

The eagerly anticipated Thawfest Games had arrived and the whole village was buzzing with energy.

The event was always a big one but with two new competitors, things were that bit more exciting. The addition of the dragon events added more fuel to the fire and for many Vikings, this would be the first time they'd properly see what the bonded dragons could, throw in the games lasting two days and you effectively doubled the excitement. With the festive atmosphere and the infectious energy, you could almost forget about the undercurrent that ran through some of the villagers.

Almost.

The rivalries between the Hoffersons, Ingermans, Thorstons and Jorgensons were not going to simply go away and with the Jorgensons doubting their own future head, members of different clans were pushing the boundaries. That's not to say each clan was against all the others, the Hoffersons and Ingermans had a long history as friends and the Thorstons and Jorgensons tended to have similar views. As such, alliances between the clans were pretty well set with them backing the teens of their clan and respective ally.

While the situation wasn't exactly dangerous, it did cause a lot of friction between clans, usually expressed verbally through insults, bragging and some gossip-mongering. The Haddock clan was largely staying out of it and acting as peacekeeper between them while the remaining clans were more varied and civil in their own opinions.

Of course, as head of the Jorgensons, Spitelout was doing his absolute best to keep his clan reigned in. An arduous task at best but vital so as to keep the Jorgenson ego from causing serious problems, especially since the clan had reigned supreme at Thawfest for generations. Astrid was reigning champion currently and many Hoffersons wanted it to stay that way but the Jorgensons wanted Snotlout to reclaim the title for them and the pressures they were putting on him were huge. Spitelout had shielded his son from most of it but the boy wasn't stupid and knew full well what his clan was thinking.

However, it seemed that the teens were refusing to be dragged into the desires of their clans.

* * *

Snotlout was stood with Hiccup down in the arena, both of them having arrived first.

Astrid entered not long after them, walking with determination. She noticed them straight away and headed towards them, "You guys ready?"

Hiccup shrugged casually, "Yeah, I guess. Just need to be sure that you won't go easy on the rookies."

She snorted, "I never go easy on anyone in a competition."

Snotlout smirked, "Who'd have thought."

She lightly punched him on the arm with a chuckle just as Fishlegs scurried into the arena to join them, "My uncle just wouldn't leave me alone! He kept trying to give me 'advice' which basically consists of 'win, win, win!'" He sighed, "You'd think he'd have learned that today's events really aren't my thing."

Hiccup patted his shoulder, "Don't worry about it 'Legs, you might surprise yourself today and it's all about the dragons tomorrow anyway."

The teen just grinned, "Its fine Hiccup, its more just annoying than anything else."

The twins then clattered in and practically charged them, tripped, somehow pulled off a spectacular forward roll and jumped up right in front of them.

"Let's do this!"

"The Thorstons are in the house!"

They clonked their helmets together and grinned as Hiccup raised an eyebrow, "I guess you guys are ready then."

Any further conversation was halted as Stoick stood and began to speak, as the chief delivered his opening speech, Hiccup nudged Snotlout, "Your clan is really giving you an intense stare."

The younger boy shrugged, "I know, they seem to think it'll magically make me win." His eyes roamed towards the back of the stands and he grinned, "Look who's turned up to watch as well."

Behind the crowds was a row of dragon heads as each of the Academy dragons watched their riders with interest, Hiccup grinned as well and nudged Astrid beside him and nodded in their direction. The girl passed the message down the line and muttered quietly, "Which one of them do you think is going to roar the loudest in support when the games start."

Snotlout answered without hesitation, "Hookfang. He really gets into anything remotely like a competition, you've seen how he is during some of our training exercises."

The teens giggled then quickly composed themselves as Stoick finished his speech.

"Let the Thawfestival Games begin!"

The crowd roared in excitement and Hookfang could indeed be heard above them all, Bucket and Mulch began commentating as Gobber and some others brought each of them a sheep for the Sheep Lug. Shouldering their sheep, they lined up on the starting line and the crowd silenced in eagerness for the starting shout.

"You can do it big brother!"

Wolflout's excited voice cut through the silence and a few people chuckled as Snotlout grinned, Gobber gave the young boy a cheerful wave, "That's the way to do it lad!"

There were more chuckles from the crowd and the blacksmith took position to start the event.

"On your marks…get set…GO!"

As one, the teens set off across the arena. Astrid seemed to quickly take the lead but Snotlout and Hiccup were right on her heels, Fishlegs and the twins were a pace or two behind but very quickly, Tuffnut began to tire and fall back. Ruffnut managed a bit longer but soon she joined her brother and Fishlegs moved further ahead, he wasn't close to catching the others but he pushed on stoically. At the front, Astrid was still in the lead with Hiccup close behind, Snotlout however, had fallen slightly behind and most thought it was now between the other two. Then, as Astrid and Hiccup showed signs of slowing, Snotlout sped up and overtook them both, crossing the finish line just ahead of them.

He put the sheep down and punched the air in delight as the crowd cheered, Spitelout's voice sounding out above them, "Nice one son!"

While the crowd continued to cheer, Snotlout turned to the other two and Astrid shook her head, "I started too fast, didn't have the strength to keep it up the whole way."

Hiccup smiled, "Yeah, Snotlout's always had ridiculous stamina, way more than me anyway."

Fishlegs came staggering across the line and unceremoniously dumped his sheep before sitting down heavily, "That one always kills me."

Snotlout clapped him on the shoulder, "You made it across the line though." He looked at the twins, "Which is more than those two did."

The twins were flat on the floor in the middle of the arena, panting heavily and giving dramatic exclamations.

"This is it, our sorry end!"

"We've pushed too hard, we're dying!"

Astrid rolled her eyes, "They do this every time, give up halfway and declare they're dying of exhaustion."

Fishlegs grinned, "But the moment they announce the next event, they'll on their feet like nothing's wrong."

As if on cue, Mulch spoke up over the crowd, "And now it's onto the traditional Log Roll event!"

Instantly the twins were on their feet and ready to go, their dramatics forgotten and Fishlegs nudged the others, "Told you."

Laughing, the teens made their way to their starting positions.

* * *

Up in the stands, Stoick was sat on his large chair smiling as he watched the teens interacting.

Despite all the rivalry between their families, they were fully enjoying themselves and competing without getting too caught up on the result. They were laughing their losses off and enjoying their victories with proper sensitivity, a very different scenario from Thawfests in the past.

He leaned over to Spitelout beside him, "That's one victory to your boy already."

The man grinned, "Aye, but Hiccup wasn't far behind, he might pip him to the post in the Log Roll."

Stoick watched them mounting the log, ready to start, "But they'll both have to beat Astrid as well, she's still one of Berk's best young warriors."

Gobber signalled the event to start and the crowd began shouting their support as the log started rolling. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were first to fall and Spitelout raised an eyebrow, "Did they deliberately fall off?"

Stoick shook his head as the twins argued over who fell the best, "Aye, I think they did."

Surprisingly, Snotlout went next as he made a small misstep and lost balance. Even from where he was, Stoick heard the sighs and mutterings of disappointment from the Jorgensons. Spitelout sent a brief glare their way, indicating that he'd heard as well, before focusing back on the log to see Fishlegs get catapulted off. Hiccup and Astrid were still going strong but the chief could see the signs that his son was flagging, soon, it caught up to him and he tumbled off quite spectacularly. Amusingly enough, Snotlout was already in position to catch him and Stoick found himself once again marvelling at attuned to each other the boys were.

Astrid jumped off the log in victory and waved at the cheering crowd before shaking the hands of the others. Stoick caught a few loud and pointed comments from the Hoffersons about how Astrid was so perfect when compared to others but he saw Alsvid quickly shushing them so he left them be.

Spitelout shook his head, "Shame about that slight slip-up, Snotlout might've had this one if it hadn't happened. Still, it is what it is, though Hiccup kept it up for quite some time, I thought he might actually win for a while."

Stoick nodded, "So did I, but it looks like she held out longer, likely because of her training."

Down below the teens were all conversing happily as they set things up for the axe throwing and the chief smiled, "They're still having fun though."

* * *

With the targets all set up, the teens stood with an axe each ready to throw when commanded.

Hiccup was first and he held the weapon awkwardly, "I don't think I'm going to do particularly well at this one."

Gobber nodded to him, "You're up lad."

The boy lifted the weapon and heaved it towards the target, it spun messily in the air and thudded awkwardly into the edge. The crowd muttered and a few people snorted but Hiccup simply shrugged, "I'm surprised I actually hit it."

Snotlout was next up, his throw was slightly more powerful and neater but it still only hit the outer ring. There were groans and a few scoffs (mostly from the Jorgensons) but there was a smattering of polite applause and Snotlout scratched his head, "I maybe should've practised that one more."

Fishlegs followed and his axe completely missed the target, there were definitely snorts of laughter and several rude comments with a Thorston/Jorgenson air to them. A glower from Stoick quickly silenced them and Snotlout patted the teen's arm sympathetically to which Fishlegs answered with a grateful smile.

Astrid took centre stage and her throw was as perfect as you'd expect from someone who'd trained every day of their life. The axe thudded deep into the very centre of the target and the Hoffersons led the cheer for the excellent throw, Hiccup and Snotlout looked suitably impressed and the latter spoke to Fishlegs, "Remind me to never get her mad when she's holding one of those."

Finally came the twins, though it was supposed to be Ruffnut then Tuffnut. However, in true Thorston twin style, they completely ignored all the rules and went at the same time, their axes colliding in the air and causing them to devolve into one of their fist fights. It took some time to get them to break it up and it was decreed that Astrid was the winner, placing her in the lead with one point.

As Mulch declared the result and Stoick announced the start time for the next day's Dragon Events, Hiccup wandered up beside Astrid, "Your family certainly look pleased."

Her eyes roamed over the crowd, easily spotting the Hoffersons chatting excitedly to their neighbours, some with a little bit of smugness, "Yeah, but this Thawfest is far from over. Everyone knows that you and Snotlout will be the ones to watch tomorrow, you two have spent more time with your dragons than anyone else."

He grinned, "Yeah, maybe. Fishlegs is catching up quickly though, I've barely seen him and Meatlug apart since they first bonded."

As if to illustrate his point, Meatlug scurried into the arena and made a beeline for her rider, licking him happily when she reached him. The teen laughed and instantly showered her with fuss and attention as his parents followed in after her. The twins were already ambling towards the entrance, still arguing about the axe throwing, while Wolflout careened in and effectively tackled Snotlout, chattering away in excitement.

Toothless and Hookfang followed and headed for their respective riders and Astrid spotted her parents waiting for her outside the arena, "Well, I better go, speak to my parents then take Stormfly out for a little more training." She smirked, "We're going to need it to compete against you guys."

With a quick smile and a called 'goodbye' to the others, she hurried off.

* * *

Despite the current score, Spitelout was proud of what Snotlout had done that day.

He, Hiccup and Astrid had been pretty closely matched all day and it had been one of the most interesting Thawfests in years, his son had shown a good deal of strength and potential and that alone was more than enough reason to be proud.

Though try telling that to the other Jorgensons.

They wanted victories and they were not wasting time showing Spitelout their disappointment in Snotlout not delivering. Spinelout was of course loudly reminding people of how he'd never lost a Thawfest event when he'd been allowed to compete and the rest were almost certainly going to tell Snotlout their views on his performance if they got the chance.

Key word being 'if'.

At the moment, their chance wasn't coming since Hookfang was glaring intimidatingly at any clan member that got too close, none of them wanted to annoy a Monstrous Nightmare and he was clearly indicating that they weren't welcome. This was only added to by Toothless since the cousins were, as usual, together, the Night Fury was also warding off unwanted Jorgensons with a single look and neither boy was doing anything to stop them. This did mean that the clan members vented at Spitelout instead but he preferred that over them hounding his son.

He suppressed a sigh as another Jorgenson headed towards him, "Yes, Griplout?"

The well-built man scowled, "Well the Hofferson girl seems to be doing well this year."

Spitelout somehow kept his tone even, "Yes, Astrid is quite the competitor, though she does keep on top of her training excellently."

"Maybe, but I thought _someone_ might've beaten her this year."

He took in a breath to cool his growing anger at the insinuation in the 'someone', "She's very good and Snotlout and Hiccup have been making her work hard for her wins."

"Yet she's still winning." Griplout's scowled in Snotlout's direction, "Jorgensons are supposed to be the best, we're meant to dominate Thawfest, not struggle to earn a point or two."

With that, Griplout stalked off and Spitelout pinched the bridge of his nose, he'd actually once been like Griplout? Had he seriously been that bad? How the heck did Stoick manage to not throttle him?

He sighed, well, at least managing his clan had improved his patience no end, time was he'd have just thumped Griplout instead of answering reasonably. He glanced at Snotlout.

And time was he might've been giving his son an earful of disappointment for not winning all three events, just like the way the rest of the clan wanted to.

"Dad?"

He looked down to find Wolflout staring up at him, Chibiterasu at his heels as always, "What is it boyo?"

"Why did Griplout sound so angry?"

He grimaced slightly at the boy's question (he'd have preferred it if his youngest hadn't heard that) then smiled, "He's just disappointed, he doesn't quite understand the concept of friendly competition."

"Is he disappointed because Snotlout didn't win everything?"

He just about halted another sigh, of course Wolflout would be incredibly perceptive right now. Well, no point in lying, "Yes, yes he is."

The boy wrinkled his nose, "Well that's just silly, Snotlout tried really, really hard, Astrid was just better this time, that's all."

Spitelout couldn't help but grin at his son's simple, but so accurate a statement and lifted him onto his shoulders, "You're right, it is silly." He then added on as an afterthought, "But don't actually repeat that to him or the other adults." He finished under his breath so that Wolflout couldn't hear him.

"Even if they need to hear it."

* * *

 _ **PS-So a fairly long chapter there and the teens are staying out of the clan squabbles. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter. This one has a brief trip into the past but is largely focused on the night between the Thawfest events. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

 _ **Isle of Berk-A few years ago**_

"And with three points, Astrid is the winner of this year's Thawfest games!"

The crowd cheered and Spitelout applauded along with them, beside him, Helga was looking after their baby son and she pointed down at the arena, "Look Wolflout, Astrid won!"

Wolflout gurgled something and waved his tiny hand towards the arena in a general replication of pointing, showing that he got even just a little idea of what his mother was saying. Spitelout took him onto his lap and Wolflout immediately focused on the far more interesting thing that was daddy, he giggled as his father bounced him on his knee and Spitelout grinned, "One day, you're going to be winning down there."

His wife sighed, "Please don't tell me you're putting pressure on him to win already?"

Before he could answer, Griplout interrupted, "Why not? You've got to get it into their head from the start, he is going to be representing the whole clan after all." He glowered down at Astrid, who was receiving her medal for her win, "Especially since the Hoffersons will be going on and on about their 'perfect' Astrid."

Spitelout shook his head, "She's always trained hard and more than deserves this, besides, by the time Wolflout can take part, she'll be too old to."

The other man frowned, "Doesn't matter, they're going to be going on about this for months." He glowered once more, "This is the first year that we haven't had a Jorgenson winner, simply because Spinelout is too old to compete now." He looked back at him, "Of course, we could've had a Jorgenson competing if Sn…"

"That's enough Griplout!"

Spitelout gave him a dangerous look that had Griplout shutting up immediately, Wolflout whimpered unhappily at his father's tone and Spitelout softened his face and resumed the knee-bouncing. His son giggled once more and Griplout took the unspoken order to leave, you took great care when speaking about Snotlout around the head of the Jorgenson clan.

You'd have thought that losing one of their children would bring the clan closer but sadly, it merely created strong opinions. More than one of the clan thought that Snotlout was taken because he was too weak a person, making it his fault, never mind the fact that he'd been a young child and pretty defenceless without an adult to protect him.

Others fully blamed Valka, saying that she was inadequate, a disgrace to the tribe and as a chief's wife. Stoick and Spitelout themselves held no such opinion, Valka had never been adept at fighting and she'd been up against a far stronger and better trained opponent, doing what she could had nearly killed her and it was a miracle it hadn't. It had taken considerable effort to convince her of this, so set as she was on blaming herself, and Spitelout was determined to keep that opinion firmly out of the public view to stop her slipping back to it.

Finally, many blamed him, saying he didn't train Snotlout well enough, didn't strengthen him enough, didn't search hard enough, let his son spend too much time with his 'weak' cousin…the list went on. In short, the fact it had even happened was Spitelout's failure and failure was treated harshly in the Jorgenson clan. For all those long and tear-filled months that followed the boys' disappearance, people in his clan were sympathetic to his face and talking about his failure behind his back. In the end, Spitelout put his foot down and openly declared that he'd deal harshly with any clan member that spoke ill of the event and those involved, reducing their opinions to nothing but quiet mutterings when no one could hear. Perceived failures or not, he was still the better fighter in his clan and none of them were going to try their luck with an angry, grieving father.

As Griplout scurried off, Spitelout continued bouncing Wolflout even as his mind wandered onto another matter he and Stoick were dealing with.

With the remainder of his son's generation growing up, whispers had started concerning the future chief. It wasn't anything more than idle speculation at the moment but as time passed, it would become something they would have to deal with. It had long been known that Valka couldn't have children anymore, not since they'd lost Hiccup, so a blood heir was not forthcoming, other Haddock clan members were either too old or too young to fill the gap so it fell to being a choice between the four remaining children of Hiccup and Snotlout's generation.

Helga gently touched him, "Don't let it get to you dear."

He blinked and found Wolflout pouting at him, he'd been so wrapped up in his thoughts he'd stopped bouncing the boy, much to Wolflout's displeasure.

He smiled and gently tossed the boy into the air and caught him, causing his son to squeal in delight and instantly forgive his father's earlier lack of attention, Helga smiled fondly and leaned against her husband, quietly speaking in his ear, "I know it's hard, both helping Stoick and dealing with the clan but try not to get too absorbed in it, today is supposed to be fun after all." She patted his arm, "Why not spend time with Wolflout today, forget about the troubles with the clan and tribe for a bit. Maybe take him to see Gobber, he'd love that."

Spitelout grinned at that suggestion. They'd found that Gobber was probably the best platmate on Berk, Wolflout adored him and the blacksmith would happily abandon all pretence of being an 'adult' when he played with him. They'd crawl around the floor for hours playing whatever game came to mind, Gobber had pretended to be a sheep, a goat, a yak, a wolf, all to entertain Wolflout and in full view of the village with absolutely no shame. That being said, they'd have to keep a careful eye on them when Wolflout got old enough to start getting bad ideas, Gobber would indeed join in if the boy thought it a good idea to launch themselves from one of the catapults or some other such crazy scheme.

Standing, Spitelout nodded, "You're right, I think I'll do just that."

His wife smiled, "Good, that'll let me have a little break myself."

He held his son up, "Well boyo, you want to go see Uncle Gobber?"

Wolflout's face immediately lit up and he waved his arms around excitedly, he knew exactly who Uncle Gobber was, Spitelout laughed, "I guess that's a yes then." He leaned down and quickly kissed his wife, "I'll see you later."

She returned the gesture, "See you later dear."

* * *

 _ **Isle of Berk-Present**_

Spitelout sat on his chair at home with a tankard of mead as his wife sat in her own chair across from him quietly sewing. Hookfang was curled up near the fire, apparently asleep, and Snotlout was sat on the floor, leaning back against his dragon with a slight frown on his face.

Ever since Wolflout had been sent to bed, the teen had been very quiet and thoughtful and Spitelout had his suspicions on what his son was thinking about. He considered it for a moment before speaking, "What is it boyo? You've been pretty quiet for a while."

Snotlout looked up at him in slight surprise then frowned again, he stayed quiet a little longer then spoke, "Dad, why is our clan so obsessed with winning?"

His father sighed and carefully considered his words as he answered, "To be perfectly honest, I'm not entirely sure. Part of it is certainly clan pride, the Jorgenson's have always produced the best warriors, the strongest fighters and the hardiest men, we've let that history drive us to prove we're better than anyone else." He looked down sadly, "Of course, that attitude leads to over competitiveness and that gave rise to selfishness. Even within our clan, people started to be judged on their physical strength and ability and which then decided their position in the clan. This causes people to want better positions for themselves and their children, leading to a continuous tally of people's victories and parents pressuring their children to win at everything, fostering selfishness."

His son looked thoughtful, "It's kind of similar to how the nobility worked, though with more emphasis on physical strength."

To be honest, Spitelout hadn't seen the similarities until his son had mentioned it, Snotlout and Hiccup had explained the Empire's system of nobles and he had to admit that their gaining of wealth and influence to raise their position in the hierarchy wasn't that different from the Jorgenson's competition for the most victories to increase their standing in the clan, same idea but with different methods.

Spitelout nodded, "You're pretty much spot on with that, many of the motivations involved are probably quite similar as well." He smiled, "Though you and your friends seem to be keeping yourselves out of it pretty well."

"I guess."

He frowned at his son's answer, "You don't sound so sure."

Snotlout sighed, "I mean, we are keeping out of it but we're finding it really hard to do it. I know that in the arena we seem to be having no problem but I think that's because we're together, we just want to enjoy ourselves and ignore it then." He began toying with one of his sleeves, "But when we're not together, it all comes back. I know that Fishlegs' family are really pressuring him, no matter how hard his parents try to fend them off, and I'm pretty sure Astrid's are as well, she's just not telling us. I think that Ruffnut and Tuffnut's have basically given up on them doing anything worthwhile and I have a feeling it bothers them more than they let on." He gave a small smile, "Hiccup's family are pretty much behind him and they're completely fine with what he's doing." He frowned again, "But he's also Berk's heir and there's a lot of pressure, intentional or not, from the village as a whole. People are watching him to try and find anything to prove him as a poor heir so they can try and push for someone else, they're unhappy that their chance to have the person they want as chief is gone now."

"And what about you?"

Snotlout looked up at his father's gentle question and softly stroked Hookfang's snout, "It's been hard, dealing with the rest of the clan I mean. I just get this feeling that no matter what I do, it'll never be enough to convince them. They pick out every little thing they're not happy with and magnify it, to make it seem worse than it is." He glowered, "And then there's Spinelout."

He caught the brief looks of worry on his parents faces and quickly assured them, "It's okay, he's not laid a hand on me or anything, though I'd like to see him try with Hookfang around." He smiled at the Nightmare who rumbled in response, indicating he was not as asleep as he seemed, "But he does go out of his way to comment on everything I do, he hangs around nearby when we're Dragon Training and then goes and tells people overexaggerated and twisted stories of what happened. Most people don't actually believe him but there are a few."

Spitelout softly stood and went to sit beside his son, wrapping an arm around the boy's shoulders, "I know it's hard, our clan is far too focused on selfishness and victory for its own good but that's why I'm so proud of you and the others for staying out of all the clan politics. It might not feel like it but I know that loads of people in the village are behind you guys all the way, you're showing us a better way to live and not just with regards to dragons."

He pulled Snotlout into a hug, "Don't worry about tomorrow's events or clan politics, just keep going the way you guys have. You and Hiccup made it home because you stayed together and now, you have us, your friends and so many others with you as well."

The boy returned his father's hug, "Thanks dad."

From her seat, Helga smiled.

* * *

In the forge, Hiccup was making alterations to one of Toothless' tailfins in preparation for tomorrow's games, the dragon himself was sat nearby watching the procedure as his rider worked away contentedly.

"Hiccup?"

The boy looked to the door as someone said his name and he smiled when he saw who it was, "Hi mom."

Valka came in and looked down at the tailfin, "What are you doing."

Hiccup picked it up and spread it out, "Just getting Toothless' fin ready for tomorrow, it won't take much longer."

He began tweaking parts of it as his mother watched in fascination, "It's an amazing creation." She looked at him curiously, "How did you learn how to use a forge?"

He shrugged, "It was the job I had to do for one of my owners."

He caught her grimace at the word 'owners', "Sorry."

She shook her head, "Its fine, it's just hard to accept that someone 'owned' you and Snotlout." She sighed sadly, "I just hate the thought of it."

He smiled, "But they don't own us anymore."

She returned the smile but it soon faded as she gently placed her hand on his cheek, "You've grown so much, I can hardly believe it." She looked down sadly, "You both should've grown up here."

Hiccup left the tailfin and hugged his mother, "I know mom, but we're back now and we have no intention of leaving again and we're not fully grown up yet."

She chuckled slightly as she wrapped her arms around him, "Thank goodness for that." She held him at arms-length, "I've said it before but it's so good to have you home again, with dragons none-the-less."

Her son grinned, "I know." He looked thoughtful, "Hey mom, have you considered getting a dragon?"

She smiled, "Well, yes." She then frowned, "But none of the ones I've met have felt like the one for me, there's nothing wrong with them it's just they don't seem to be the 'right' one, like I'm waiting for a certain dragon to show up."

Hiccup took her hand, "I'm sure you'll find one, to be honest I don't think getting a dragon is something you can just do, you need that connection first." He grinned again, "You'll find your dragon mom, I'm sure of it."

She chuckled slightly and ruffled his hair, "If you say so, oh 'Dragon Master'." She nodded to the tailfin, "You should probably finish that up soon, otherwise your father will be scouring the village to find out why you aren't home yet."

He rolled his eyes with a sigh, "Don't I know it." He turned back to the fin, "It shouldn't take much longer, I've just got one more quick thing to do and I'll be done."

Valka started to head for the door, "Okay then, I'll tell him you're just coming. We can have a late dinner when you get back." She briefly turned back to him, "Its meatballs tonight."

She missed as look of fear on Hiccup's face as she turned away and headed for home. Once his mother had left, he looked to Toothless.

"Bud, you've got to smuggle some fish in for me!"

* * *

 _ **PS-So I finally managed to get some Hiccup/Valka family fluff in there and we'll be back with Thawfest next chapter. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	17. Chapter 17

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Hello everyone and welcome to the Dragon Events. No time jumps this time around but we get through all the Dragon Events in this chapter. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter._**

 ** _I own nothing._**

* * *

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

As the day dawned on the second day of Thawfest, the arena seats rapidly filled in anticipation for the Dragon Events.

Everyone was even more excited than the day before, the events would be entirely new and the closeness of points made things even more interesting. People were eager to see the dragons in action and all the families couldn't wait to see their representatives in action. Down in the arena, the teens were fairly relaxed as they waited for the events to start.

Snotlout was massaging the spot behind Hookfang's head while Hiccup was making some adjustments to Toothless' tailfin. Nearby, Astrid and Stormfly were warming up, Fishlegs was showering Meatlug with attention and the twins were fighting as Barf and Belch watched.

Gobber shambled over from where he'd been heading up setting up the hurdles and grinned at them all, "You lot ready then?"

Hiccup stood up and nodded as Snotlout did likewise, "Yeah, we're ready."

Astrid and Stormfly joined them, "We're all set."

Fishlegs stood and addressed Meatlug, "Okay girl, let's get out there and do this!"

The Gronckle rumbled happily in response as Barf and Belch grabbed a twin each and separated them, indicating that they were also ready to go.

Gobber clapped his hands together, "Good, let's get this started."

He waved up to Stoick who stood and silenced the crowd before starting his opening speech, as the chief spoke, Gobber quietly outlined the rules of the hurdles to the teens and sorted out who'd go first. Soon, the time came for the events to get underway.

* * *

From her seat beside her husband, Valka watched with intense interest as the Dragon Events began.

Ever since the peace had been sorted out, she'd studied Berk's dragons to a great degree. She'd always been against killing them when the war was ongoing and now she relished in the chance to actually get to learn more about them. While Hiccup and the others were pioneering in Dragon Training, she was learning more about the dragons themselves and more precisely, their biology.

She'd spent a lot of time assisting Gobber with his dragon dentistry and had slowly become known as something of a dragon healer, she was far from knowing everything but she was more knowledgeable than most when it came to sick or injured dragons. Seeing how they performed alongside their riders in a competition setting was something she was looking forward to.

Fishlegs and Meatlug were up first and they started off at a good lick, unfortunately, they got wedged underneath the first hurdle which destroyed their chances at a point. Valka winced slightly and felt sorry for them as the crowd laughed, she could see Fishlegs consoling his dragon as the others hurried over to check they were both alright. Beside her, Stoick frowned, "I'm not sure that was entirely fair. I don't think there was anyway Meatlug could've flown any lower."

On his other side, Spitelout agreed, "I think you're right, Fishlegs is a tall lad and practically doubles the height clearance needed when flying on her."

The chief sighed, "Unfortunate that we only realised this now, I'll see about raising the height of the hurdles next time."

They fell silent again as the twins began their approach, they were looking pretty good until Tuffnut seemed to forget that they were supposed to go underneath the hurdles, he instructed Belch to go over as Ruffnut made Barf go down. Naturally, this merely made the Zippleback collide with the hurdles and crash spectacularly into a tangle of dragon, rider and hurdle.

Valka sat up in concern but relaxed slightly as Gobber sent a thumb up, letting them know that all involved were okay, she shook her head slightly, "Well that nearly ended up a huge mess."

Once the hurdles were reset, Astrid and Stormfly swooped in gracefully. They got through the first couple with ease but the Nadder's tail glanced the last hurdle, causing it to topple over and ruin their perfect run. The groans from the Hoffersons were audible, as were the sniggers from the Jorgensons, in comparison, Spitelout seemed to feel sorry for her, "Now that was just bad luck, their run was excellent."

Valka nodded sagely, "Yes, but it is what it is and it hasn't thrown her out of the running just yet."

Snotlout was next to go and Wolflout could be heard cheering for his brother above the rest of the crowd. Like Stormfly, Hookfang's approach was excellent, if a little slower, and they to cleared the first hurdles with ease. Then, an audible 'clang' was heard and as Hookfang flew upwards, they could see Snotlout holding his head in pain, indicating that he'd clonked it on the last hurdle. When the Nightmare landed, he dismounted and stood dazedly and Hiccup shot over and helped him sit down, Gobber quickly gave him a check over and sent someone to fetch some ice for the boy to hold against his head. From his seat, Spitelout watched worriedly, "Do you think he's okay?"

Stoick nodded confidently, "I'm sure Gobber would let us know if it was anything serious, I think he just banged his head a bit on that last hurdle."

Valka concurred, "It's the steep climb after that last one, they have to fly upwards quickly to avoid slamming into the wall and I think he just climbed that little bit too early." She smiled at him, "I'm sure he's fine Spitelout, he's got your thick skull after all."

He smiled back but still looked slightly worried as he watched Hiccup leave Snotlout in Fishlegs' care so he could do his own run. Hiccup and Toothless approached the hurdles at blinding speed and were under all of them perfectly, almost too quickly for anyone to follow, even finishing with a fancy twirl at the end. The crowd roared in approval and everyone knew who the winners were even before it was announced, Hiccup briefly acknowledged the crowd before heading straight back to Snotlout, who was perfectly fine if his enthusiastic applause for his cousin was anything to go by.

Stoick couldn't stop himself standing with a proud shout, "That's my boy!"

Hiccup quickly looked their way and Valka nodded his way to show she was proud to, he gave them a smile before refocusing on Snotlout.

* * *

"Are you really sure you're alright?"

Snotlout rolled his eyes at his overly-mothering cousin, "I'm fine Hiccup! It hurts a bit but that's all, you know I've handled worse than a slight knock."

Hiccup didn't look to convinced but Astrid intervened, "Hiccup, stop worrying about it. Gobber said that it was nothing more than a bump which the ice will soon fix, he's certain that Snotlout will be able to keep competing without any issues."

The older cousin gnawed his lip worriedly, "But what if he's wrong and there's some other complication while Snotlout's competing."

"I am still here you know." Snotlout glowered at his cousin slightly, "Apart from a sore head, I feel fine, in fact, it's getting better pretty quickly."

Hiccup frowned, "Maybe you should go last in the next event, just to make sure you're definitely ready."

Snotlout sighed, "Fine, I'll go last if it'll stop you mothering me."

Gobber's voice called out, "Hurry up Hiccup, yer going first!"

"Coming Gobber!" He turned back to his cousin and wagged a finger at him, "Snotlout, I want you to take it easy, okay."

The younger boy rolled his eyes again, "Just go and do your trick, I'm fine."

Hiccup hurried off with Toothless and Astrid shook her head in slight exasperation, "Finally, I thought he'd never stop fussing over you."

Snotlout shrugged, "He worries, I probably wouldn't be much better if things were the other way around." He looked at Fishlegs beside him, "Hey 'Legs, you okay?"

The older boy fidgeted nervously, "Not really, this'll be Meatlug's first big trick and after what happened with the hurdles…"

"You'll be fine." Astrid assured him, "What happened with those was unfortunate but not really your fault. You guys will rock the trick contest."

He looked unconvinced but then got distracted, "Look! Hiccup and Toothless are about to perform."

Immediately, everyone focused on the Night Fury and his rider and soon they were all gasping in awe as they pulled off a series of stunning, high-speed acrobatics. Astrid grinned, "They're going to be really hard to beat."

They joined the cheers and applause as the pair landed perfectly and Astrid disappeared off to get ready with Stormfly for their turn, Hiccup and Toothless headed straight back to Snotlout and the younger boy waved off his cousin's continued concerns.

In no time at all, Astrid and Stormfly were in the air wowing the crowd once more as they pulled off an elegant ballet in the sky. On the ground, Snotlout watched with wonder, "That's amazing, how do they even do that?"

Fishlegs looked equally as impressed, even as he answered, "She calls it the 'Balance Dance', it really shows off Stormfly's agility and Astrid's own skills."

Hiccup stared wide-eyed, "I don't think anyone else could pull it off, it shows them both off so well."

The crowd roared with approval as Stormfly beautifully landed with a bow and the others clapped loudly in appreciation. She walked back over to them as Hiccup spoke excitedly, "Astrid, that was amazing! That could claim it for you this time."

She blushed slightly, "Well, you and Toothless were pretty spectacular and we still have everyone else to go."

Snotlout grinned, "Maybe, but you've set the bar pretty high." He frowned, "I wonder if Ruff and Tuff will cooperate long enough to match it?"

"Speaking of the twins." Fishlegs glanced around them, "Where are they? I haven't seen them since this event started."

Snotlout pointed towards the starting point, "They're over there. Maybe they've been getting some last-minute practice in."

They all settled to watch as the twins and their Zippleback seemed to prepare themselves for their trick and then launch into the air. They started off well and used Barf's gas to create some pretty good patterns in the air but something went slightly wrong when they attempted a barrel roll, resulting in a sloppy landing. While it lacked the 'wow' factor of the previous tricks, the fact they'd managed to even finish it successfully was a rarity in itself.

The crowd clapped politely and the other teens were slightly louder with their applause but the twins seemed engrossed in a deep discussion, possibly considering adjustments to their trick. Nervously, Fishlegs stood, "Well, it's our turn Meatlug."

The Gronckle nuzzled her rider encouragingly and the others called out as they made their way to the starting point.

"Knock them dead Fishlegs!"

"You guys have got this!"

The twins joined the others, though they were still deep in discussion, and they all watched in anticipation. The crowd hushed and Meatlug gently took off from the ground, hovering a metre or so above it.

Suddenly, she shot straight upwards, climbing vertically while performing an amazing spin at great speed. She got high above the arena and, without missing a beat, powered backwards in a spiral heading towards the ground, she swooped just above the arena floor and climbed right back into the air. Reaching the peak of her climb, she flipped forwards and dropped straight out of the sky upside down, people gasped as they plummeted towards the floor but at the last moment, Meatlug flipped upright and stopped dead, inches above the ground. There was a hush as Fishlegs held out his arms like a showman, then, like a rushing wave, the crowd roared with approval and clapped vigorously, some actually standing on their feet.

Fishlegs waved nervously, dismounted Meatlug and quickly scurried over to the others, eager to leave the spotlight. Snotlout clapped him heartily on the back, "Fishlegs, that was incredible!"

The boy shuffled awkwardly, "Well, it wasn't exactly as acrobatic as Toothless and Stormfly."

"That doesn't matter." Hiccup stated, "You showcased all of Meatlug's strengths brilliantly, none of our dragons could ever pull off a manoeuvre like that."

Snotlout and Hookfang began heading for the starting point, "Well, it's our turn now. Let's do this Hookfang!"

The Nightmare roared in response and soon both of them were all set to go, as soon as they got the signal, they were in the air and swooping downwards. With a powerful beat of his wings, Hookfang sent one of the set-up hurdles flying, he followed this with a fire blast, striking the hurdle before it had struck the ground. He ignited his fire coat and flew upwards, spinning as he went and scattering flames all around him in a spectacular display. At the peak of his climb, he released a massive fire blast into the air. He fell back and snapped his wings forward, striking the fire with a massive blast of air that caused the flames to explode like a large firework. He dived and landed with an almighty 'thump' and roared at the crowd, his fire coat ignited with the largest flames anyone had ever seen.

The crowd roared with excitement, impressed with the amount of power Hookfang had displayed, Snotlout waved briefly at them before dismounting and re-joining his applauding peers. Tuffnut practically hugged him, "That was so awesome! Did you get burned!? Please tell me you got burned!"

Snotlout lightly pushed the other boy away, "Thanks Tuff, but no, I didn't get burned."

The male twin looked momentarily disappointed then shrugged, "Oh well, there's always next time."

Fishlegs smiled at him admirably, "That was so cool, Hookfang looked really powerful throughout the whole thing."

The younger boy rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "Well, I knew we'd never to be able to match Hiccup and Toothless or Astrid and Stormfly at areal agility, so we focused on Hookfang's power instead. A Monstrous Nightmare like him has power to spare."

Astrid glanced over to where Gobber was discussing the performances with the judges, unlike the other events, the trick contest had three judges who'd decide amongst themselves which trick was the best, they'd decide who won the event's point. Gobber nodded and sent someone off to speak to Mulch, who was commentating, and Astrid nudged Hiccup, "I think they've decided."

Anxiously, the teens waited and they watched as Gobber's messenger spoke to Mulch, silence fell as the man prepared to speak into his large commentating horn.

"And the winner of the Dragon Trick Contest is…Snotlout Jorgenson!"

The Jorgensons immediately began celebrating and Spitelout's voice boomed out over them, "Atta boy Snotlout!"

For his part, Snotlout looked slightly bemused, "Really? I thought you or Astrid would've won Hiccup."

"It was a close one." Gobber had ambled up to join them and he explained further, "It was between you and Fishlegs for who got the point, Hiccup and Astrid were pretty impressive but you guys were favoured for originality. In the end, I think they gave it to you because they liked Hookfang's sheer power, there wasn't much in it though."

He grinned, "Now then, ye best get yerselves out to the sea stacks for the last event."

* * *

Stoick couldn't help but feel a little proud as he joined the rest of the village on the cliffs to watch the Fly and Shoot event.

Hiccup had performed brilliantly that day and although he hadn't won the Trick Contest, it had been remarkably close. In fact, when it came to dragons, it was clear that the teens were all more evenly matched and their level of ability wasn't as distinct. While the Dragon Events were Hiccup's strong suit, he wasn't dominating and it made the overall score pretty tight.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were up first this time around and Stoick had to admit he had his worries about them in this event. They were proven to be well founded when the twins shot every single target they could see, far more interested in destruction than a good score. To their credit, they did hit every single one but that wasn't the aim so they naturally failed.

The crowd's response was one of expectant disappointment and Stoick could see the Thorstons simply shaking their heads in exasperation. Beside him, Valka sighed, "When will those two learn to listen properly?"

Stoick also sighed, "Unfortunately, I think that won't ever happen."

Once the targets were reset, Fishlegs did his run. All in all, it was pretty good, he only hit the correct targets but Meatlug's slowness meant that he didn't fire at a couple of them quickly enough. It was a good run but it wasn't perfect, however, Fishlegs himself seemed pretty happy with the result. Some of the Ingermans weren't so content and the few pointed comments from other clans didn't help, from his other side, Stoick heard Spitelout sigh this time, "Why do they look so disappointed? Meatlug is never going to be the fastest dragon around and she was very accurate, her and Fishlegs are pretty well in sync."

Stoick frowned, "You know how people let their clan pride blot facts like that out, they're far too focused on the win to appreciate the skill that's been shown."

Next up was Snotlout and the Jorgensons were particularly loud in their support, no doubt wanting another win for their clan. Snotlout's run was quicker than Fishlegs' but he misidentified one of the targets and Hookfang had fired before he could stop him, losing him a perfect run. While just a minor mistake, the Jorgensons were clearly unhappy and barely even applauded when Hookfang landed at the finish line, Stoick heard his wife huff angrily, "Honestly, why are they acting like his performance was a major disappointment, he made one mistake and he could easily still win."

She continued muttering in this vein until Astrid's run started. Her run was perfect, she hit each of the correct targets and made it through the course in good time. The Hoffersons went wild when Stormfly landed and it was clear that many thought that the event was as good as hers. This time it was Stoick who grumbled, "Why are they all acting like she's already won? Hiccup and Toothless haven't gone yet."

Spitelout grinned, "You have to admit that they'll have their work cut out to beat her, that was a pretty impressive run."

Stoick felt his anticipation build as Hiccup and Toothless prepared for their run and he was not disappointed. They sped through at eye-blurring speed, hitting each correct target with perfect accuracy and finishing the course in record time. It took the crowd a moment or two to realise what had happened then they burst into thunderous applause, some of the Hoffersons looked slightly shocked at this sudden turn and Stoick couldn't help but smirk a little when Hiccup was announced as the winner of the point.

Then everyone realised there was a three-way tie.

Something like this had never happened in the history of Berk, there'd always been a clear winner and no one would accept a draw. After a quick discussion with some of the council, Stoick stood and addressed the stunned Vikings, "Well, for the first time in history we have a three-way tie. Tomorrow, Astrid, Hiccup and Snotlout will compete in a tie-breaker to decide the winner of this year's Thawfest Games."

Cheers rang from the crowd, everyone was excited at having a third day of games and a tie-breaker would bring the games to a truly exciting climax. As the villagers devolved into eager discussions over what the tie-breaker would involve, Stoick turned to Spitelout, "Can you get Alsvid and the others who're involved in running the games. Between us we'll come up with a fair and challenging tie-breaker for tomorrow."

He intended it to be quite the event tomorrow.

* * *

 _ **PS-So we have a three-way tie, who'll claim the top position? Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.  
**_


	18. Chapter 18

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to this very delayed chapter. I'm sorry it's been so long since the last update but I've finally got around to writing a new chapter. This one is the final event of Thawfest and is once again all set in the present, however, after this I'll start a new story arc and we'll see more of Hiccup and Snotlout's lost years. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

If people thought excitement was high the last couple of days, it had nothing on the excitement for the tie-breaker.

It was the first time in history that a tie-breaker had been needed and having the chief's son, the best warrior in the village and the future head of the Jorgenson clan facing off against each other was some finale. It only got better when you threw in the dragons and those not in the three clans represented genuinely weren't sure who'd win.

Stoick and the team involved in running Thawfest had put a lot of thought into the tie-breaker, trying their best to keep it fair. The first section was more akin to the original events as an obstacle course of sorts, the had to run up a slope while dodging rolling logs, climb a steep cliff as rocks fell from above to reach their dragons. Once they had their dragons, they had to fly around the flagship anchored off the coast and race to the finish line through a maze of sea stacks, hindering your opponents was allowed though you couldn't do anything that would dislodge the rider or harm the dragons and use of fire breath was strictly forbidden. It had taken a lot of time and effort to come up with the event and they hoped that it gave each competitor an equal chance to win.

Hiccup, Snotlout and Astrid were already at the starting line, all set to go and the crowd was getting louder and louder as the time to start grew closer. The twins were somewhere in the crowd running a major betting pool on the event while Fishlegs was up with Valka and the dragons to make sure they stayed put. As always, Gobber was overseeing the whole thing and he stood by the line, waiting for Stoick's signal. The chief nodded and the blacksmith soon silenced the crowd and quickly explained how the event was going to work. He then looked to the teens, "Ye all ready?"

He received three affirmatives and nodded, "Good." He lifted his arm, "On yer marks…get set…GO!"

His arm dropped and the three Vikings shot off towards the slope. Astrid was quickly in the lead but Hiccup was close behind while Snotlout hung back a bit, the logs started rolling and Astrid was leaping and dodging them with ease, Hiccup was having more difficulty but he still kept close behind while Snotlout maintained his steady pace. The girl soon reached the base of the cliff and began climbing with gusto but soon slowed considerably, the two cousins began to close the gap and Snotlout started to pull ahead of Hiccup. He rapidly caught up to Astrid and overtook her, powering his way into the lead. As he got nearer the top, his speed increased as he drew on the stamina he conserved earlier, he reached the top well before the other two and sprinted over to Hookfang so they could get into the air.

* * *

"Keep it up lad!"

Spitelout was shouting raucously from where he was watching as Hookfang leapt into the air. Beside him, Stoick chuckled, "He's given himself quite the lead, your boy made that cliff look like nothing with the speed he climbed it."

Spitelout nodded, "Aye, but he had to give himself as big a lead as possible. Hookfang can't fly as fast as Toothless or Stormfly, that's just a fact. This was the best way for him to win though I wouldn't be surprised if he's got a couple of other tricks up his sleeve as well."

The Hoffersons began roaring in approval as Astrid reached the top and jumped onto Stormfly and Spitelout smiled, "Well Astrid is now hot on his tail." He frowned, "Though Hiccup seems to be badly flagging."

Hiccup was clearly struggling as he continued to climb, each motion clearly a great effort for him but Stoick simply shook his head, "Not as badly as you'd think, Toothless can more than make up for time when he reaches him."

As he spoke, Hiccup finally reached the top and he staggered over to Toothless, as soon as he was on his back, the Night Fury shot into the air and sped off after the others, eating up the distance like it was nothing.

* * *

Hookfang was fast approaching the flagship but Snotlout could see Stormfly rapidly gaining.

He wanted to still be in the lead when they reached the sea stacks because they could then use the Nightmares sheer size to block anyone from overtaking them, however, Stormfly would be able to nip past them as they rounded the ship at this rate. He decided to implement one of their plans to keep their lead.

As they rounded the ship, Hookfang turned right onto his side and snapped his wings, causing a sudden gust of air. It wasn't nearly as powerful as it could be but it was enough to throw Stormfly off slightly and prevent the Nadder from darting around the inside of them.

As they straightened out and entered the sea stack maze, the boy glanced behind to see Astrid grinning at him, "Nice trick Snotlout!"

He grinned back then focused back on the race, knowing that she'd have some tricks of her own. She was soon using them as Stormfly took full advantage of her greater agility and nipped around tiny shortcuts and better racing lines to draw level with them. Hookfang used his size to block the Nadder off and their battle for the lead continued.

They hit the last open straight before the finish line where it became an all-out sprint, Stormfly increased her speed but, like his rider, Hookfang knew how to reserve his strength and he also sped up significantly, matching the tired out Nadder with ease. They flew neck and neck as the watching crowd jumped up and down and roared in excitement at the close finish, cheering their favoured of the two to victory.

Then, like a black thunderbolt, Toothless arrived.

He and Hiccup had taken a slightly different route through the sea stacks, it was a far more dangerous and acrobatic one but that was where the Night Fury excelled. They swooped through the course with ease and emerged right behind the other two. Focused as they were on each other, Snotlout and Astrid hadn't noticed their arrival so Hiccup took advantage of their distraction.

Toothless sped up dramatically, far outstripping either of the others, and flew directly towards them. With absolute precision, they spun, blurring right between Hookfang and Stormfly, throwing both dragons off and catching everyone by surprise. Before anyone could recover, they were across the line and landing, snatching victory in style.

There was stunned silence until Stoick roared in delight, "That's my boy! Well done Hiccup!"

As one, the crowd cheered and screamed and Hiccup dismounted Toothless, who roared in victory. Behind them, Hookfang and Stormfly landed and Snotlout jumped off his dragon and tackled his cousin in a hug, "You won!"

Hiccup simply grinned at the younger boy's reaction and returned the hug, "You did pretty well yourself."

They both turned to Astrid, arms around each other's shoulders and she smiled, "Well done."

She offered her hand and they both shook it and Gobber ambled up to them, "C'mon you lot, the ceremony is about to start."

They made their way up to the pedestal where Stoick was stood waiting for them, he smiled down at them all, pride beaming from his face, "Well, it has been one of the best Thawfest we've ever had on Berk, everyone who has competed has put on a great show for us all but there can only be one winner."

He placed a gold medal over Hiccup's head and declared proudly, "The winner of this year's Thawfest Games is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock!"

He gently pushed his son forward and Hiccup stood awkwardly as everyone cheered and yelled loudly, the other teens louder than anyone else. The applause ran on and on as Toothless bounded up beside his rider, eager to get his share of appreciation as well.

Throughout it all, few people noticed some members of the crowd slipping away in disgust.

* * *

As with any major event, the Thawfest Games had to be followed by a huge party where most of the village got extremely drunk and potentially engaged in a friendly brawl.

Even though she'd lost, Astrid threw herself into the celebrations with gusto alongside the other teens. Thanks to the wisdom of Hamish the Second, Berk's law declared them too young to drink but there were more than enough non-alcoholic beverages available and the food was a free-for-all, there was singing and dancing and helping the twins swipe food from the plates of other people was exceptionally good fun. Since it was to celebrate his win, Hiccup was the centre of attention and everyone flocked to him, piling him with food, drink, compliments and more, Snotlout alongside him as always.

The party had been going for quite some time when Astrid noticed that neither cousin was present and she scoured the Great Hall for any sign of them. She couldn't see them anywhere and she frowned slightly, Fishlegs had noticed her looking and he glanced around as well, "Where've Hiccup and Snotlout gone?"

The twins were in the middle of a 'beat each other with a carrot' competition and Ruffnut waved her hand casually, "They went outside a while ago."

Tuffnut cracked his carrot over his sister's head before adding to her words, "They seemed like they didn't want anyone to notice so we didn't bother saying anything."

Ruffnut scored a hit right on her brother's nose, "They're probably off for some 'alone' time."

Fishlegs grimaced, "Did you really have to make it sound like that?"

She shrugged, "Hey, I just meant they wanted to hang out together, you're the one that's jumping to conclusions."

Tuffnut shook his head disappointedly, "Shame on you Fishlegs."

As Fishlegs spluttered out a reply, Astrid left them and slipped outside to find the boys.

* * *

She actually didn't have to go far and she soon found them sitting back to back on the cliff above the docks, Toothless and Hookfang were curled around them and the dragons barely moved as Astrid approached.

She hesitated slightly, unsure as to whether they wanted her around at that moment but Hiccup saw her and smiled, "Hey Astrid."

Snotlout looked round and also grinned and she took that as a sign that she could join them. She came closer and sat nearby, "I was just wondering where you guys had gone."

Hiccup shrugged, "We just needed to get some air for a bit, all that attention was a bit…uncomfortable."

She got the impression that there was a story in that but she left it be, instead, she asked about something else she'd been wondering about, "Um, this might seem a bit blunt but…why are you guys so close?"

They frowned slightly and she quickly spoke again, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Snotlout shrugged, "Its fine. To be honest it's a fair enough question."

Hiccup continued the answer, "In short, it's because we only had each other ever since we were taken from Berk. We were always together and we just got used to it."

Snotlout took up the explanation, "We were always in close contact and sometimes, personal space simply wasn't an option so we just began to forget about it, with each other at least."

Astrid knew that what they'd said was far from the entire story but she didn't press any further, it had been a pretty personal question to begin with. Snotlout sighed, "Too bad most people don't understand that."

Astrid couldn't disagree with that, her mother was a major part of the village gossip-mill so she'd heard all the rumours, whether she wanted to or not. Pretty much none of them were remotely true and most were, thankfully, unbelieved but the cousins' close relationship was still considered very strange, rumours were bound to appear and people were still struggling with the concept that they were just like that. Having spent most of their time with them over the last few weeks, she and the other teens and just learned to accept it, they barely noticed how the cousins basically stood on top of each other all the time, the way they sat right beside each other even when there was space and the way they always knew exactly what the other cousin needed without any communication whatsoever. She'd only asked about it out of curiosity and wouldn't have minded if they hadn't actually answered.

She smiled, "They'll learn to."

Snotlout looked at her in surprise and she smiled more, "Just give it time and they'll realise that it's just who you guys are. I mean, we're all getting used to having dragons around so I'm sure we'll get used to how you two act with each other." She stood, "So, do you want to head back to the party?"

Hiccup grinned and stretched, "Yeah, we should probably get back before anyone else notices we snuck off."

"You're right." Snotlout stood, "Give it much longer and my mom will be out here looking for us."

He pulled Hiccup to his feet as he spoke and the three of them headed back towards the Great Hall, dragons trundling behind.

The party was still in full swing when they returned and they headed straight for where Fishlegs and the twins were sitting, demolishing a particularly large mound of food. Astrid squeezed herself in beside Ruffnut as Hiccup took the seat across from her, this was the last seat but without any fuss or hesitation, Snotlout plopped himself in his cousin's lap and joined the others in devouring the food mountain. Astrid idly wondered if maybe it'd be better if the cousins sat the other way around but she soon dismissed it as she grabbed her share.

If the surrounding Vikings were surprised or taken aback, the teens didn't notice.

* * *

 _ **PS-And so ends Thawfest though not everyone is happy with the result. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	19. Those Who've Gone Beyond

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to a new story arc. I've decided that this story will be an ongoing affair, covering several stories and simply running from one to the next. I've gone for this as I feel it's a more natural flow for this AU rather than writing it in several separate stories. At some point, I'll rename earlier chapters so you know where different arcs start and finish. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

 _Estate of Lord Bressal-A few years ago_

There was a lot of shouting and yelling outside their cell door and Hiccup and Snotlout stayed close as they waited fearfully.

Lord Bressal was away, taking most of his staff and slaves with him. His estate was being run by a token staff team with just a handful of soldiers to protect it and keep the remaining slaves in order. Until now, things had actually been fairly okay, the cousins hadn't been doing the amount of work they usually did and those in charge didn't really care what they were doing as long as they were behaving. This gave them a rare freedom of the slave quarters and as long as they were back in their cell when ordered, how they filled their time was their choice.

But now, things had taken a turn for the worse.

The shouting and yelling grew louder and it was accompanied by the clashing of metal, the door shook as something heavy thudded against it and there was a sudden silence. The door lock rattled and it swung open to reveal a coarse man they didn't recognise. He grinned and called down the corridor, "Captain! There's some kids in here!"

Another, better dressed man shoved the other aside, he glanced the cousins over and Hiccup slightly moved himself in front of Snotlout, a habit he'd developed since Lord Colban. The captain nodded in approval, "They'll do nicely, take them."

He strode out of the cell and two of his crew grabbed them and dragged them out of the cell. The manor beyond was in a state of ruined disarray, the strangers had clearly turned the place upside down and taken everything of value they could find. Men were loaded down with sacks and barrels of loot and the other slaves were being herded away out the door. The bodies of Bressal's soldiers were scattered about and the cousins did their best to not look at them as they were dragged past.

They were taken out of the manor and across the grounds, beyond where they'd been before. Their captors roughly shoved them into a large cage behind a couple of horses, along with all the other slaves. As the door clanged shut behind them, Snotlout whispered to Hiccup, "What's happening?"

The older boy briefly held his hand comfortingly, "I think we've just been stolen."

* * *

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

Snotlout yawned and stretched as he stepped outside Hiccup's home, Hiccup himself followed close behind and Toothless and Hookfang bounded off to chase each other through the morning dew.

"Hiccup, have you got everything?"

The older boy sighed and turned to answer his mother, "Yes Mom, we're just doing some flight drills today, no additional items needed."

Valka bustled out, "I'm just checking dear, you don't want to have to come back for anything." She fixed her eyes on Snotlout, "And what about you Snotlout, are you certain you have everything as well? You don't want your poor mother trekking all over the village because you've forgotten something."

"Its fine Aunt Valka, I was going via home anyway."

She smiled then frowned and started to brush Hiccup's clothes down, the boy squirmed away from her, "Mom…"

"Your shirt is all creased." She sighed, "What am I going to do with you? You and your father look like such shambling messes half the time."

She finally was satisfied with her son's neatness and she nodded satisfactorily and smiled, "There we are, now, enjoy yourselves today."

"We will mom."

"Thanks Aunt Valka."

They quickly moved off before she could fuss more and were soon heading for Snotlout's house. As they reached it they met Spitelout heading out and he grinned at them both, "Morning lads!"

He clapped his son on the shoulder and Snotlout answered with a grin of his own, "Where are you going dad?"

"Down to the docks, they're doing some serious repair work down there so I thought I'd lend a hand." He nodded to the house, "Your mother has got some lunch for you to take and you might want to say hello to your brother, he was asking where you were this morning."

He headed off towards the docks and Snotlout went inside, almost the moment he was in the door, Wolflout cannoned into him, "Big brother!"

The older Jorgenson briefly hugged his little brother, "Hi Wolflout."

His mother came over and handed him a satchel, "I made up some lunch for you, I'm assuming you'll be gone all day."

He took it gratefully, "Thanks mom, though we were going to be pretty close to Berk today so you'll probably see us about."

"Can I come with you?"

He looked down at his little brother and frowned, "I don't know Wolfy, mom might not want you to."

Helga shrugged, "I don't mind, I know you'll all look after him and it would give me a bit of a break. I just don't want to hold you back if you're training."

Hiccup came into the discussion, "Its fine, we're only simple flight drills anyway." He frowned thoughtfully, "It might actually be a good time to introduce some more of the kids to dragons, I know Gustav has been really keen to get his own but he's still too young to join us." He grinned, "Maybe we could make it something of an introductory day, Gustav would love to spend the day with us and his mom won't mind, we need to train new riders at some point if we're going to live with dragons so let's get anyone interested introduced to them properly."

Wolflout looked up at him hopefully, "So I can come?"

Hiccup smiled, "Yes Wolflout."

The boy jumped for joy, "Yes! You hear that Chibi?"

The wolf cub barked excitedly and bounced around with his owner until Hiccup quickly calmed them, "Woah Wolflout, if we're going to do this we'll have to get the go ahead from dad and organise it. We'll run it by the other riders and spend the morning sorting everything so it can go ahead this afternoon."

Snotlout grabbed his brother's hand, "C'mon Wolfy, you can help me convince the others while Hiccup speaks to his dad."

The boy grinned, "Okay!" He cocked his head hopefully, "Can I get a piggyback there?"

The older Jorgenson chuckled and crouched down, letting the boy clamber onto his back. He checked he was secure then sauntered off out the door, his brother giggling happily.

* * *

The introductory afternoon was going very well.

Stoick had been more than happy to let it go ahead, he agreed that getting potential riders used to dragons was an excellent idea and had announced the event to the village. The other riders had been eager to help, especially since none of them could say no to Wolflout's puppy eyes. Though initially considered for kids, they'd opened the event to everyone and many people in the village came to the arena to find out more.

They'd encouraged a few of Berk's unbonded but friendly dragons along and they were happy to be fussed over and petted by various Vikings. Hiccup, Snotlout and Astrid were taking people up for flights on their dragons, Fishlegs was explaining the different characteristics, natures and training methods of each dragon while the twins kept all the behind the scenes business running. Gobber and Valka had also come along to lend a hand and the arena was bustling with activity as dragons and Vikings mingled.

Between one of his and Toothless' flights, Valka came up to speak to her son, "Hiccup, this is wonderful. Everything is going brilliantly."

He smiled in slight embarrassment, "Thanks mom."

She looked round at the activity surrounding them, her face beaming, "To think that barely weeks ago, we were all at war with each other. Now, everyone can see what wonderful creatures dragons actually are."

Hiccup was about to answer when he noticed Toothless stiffen and growl, trusting his dragon's instinct, he glanced around for danger but couldn't see anything. Toothless narrowed his eyes and crouched down, eyes fixed on the ground and Hiccup began to get an inkling of what was coming. He glanced up to see Hookfang descending and the Nightmare landed right beside the Night Fury, automatically moving to cover Toothless' back.

Snotlout hastily dismounted with Wolflout and he passed his brother onto Valka, "Aunt Valka, please take Wolflout and get him out of here."

She frowned in confusion, "Why, what's going on?"

Hiccup gently pushed her, "No time to explain, please just do it."

Picking up on the urgency in her son's voice, Valka simply nodded and quickly ushered Wolflout away. Hiccup hurried over to Gobber and hastily whispered in his ear, soon, the blacksmith was shepherding both Vikings and dragons out of the arena as the cousins remounted their dragons.

The other riders hurried over with Astrid in the lead, "Hiccup, what's going on?"

He continued to glance around warily even as he answered, "There's no time, just take your dragons out of here. We can handle it."

"But we can help…"

"Please Astrid."

He gave her a single look and she stopped, something in his eyes told her that he was serious and she nodded, "Okay."

As they ran off, the dragons started growling louder and the two cousins tightened their grip on the saddles. Instinctively covering each other's blind spots, the four of them waited, ignoring the crowd gathering around the arena's seats.

Soft at first, but steadily getting louder, a rumbling sound was heard and the floor of the arena began to shake. Both dragons and riders stilled themselves and focused, using their senses to find exactly where the rumbling was coming from. Suddenly, the two dragons dived to the side just as the ground erupted right where they'd just been, a long spiny body shot out of the ground and a set of bloodshot eyes gazed down upon them as their owner gave forth a shrieking roar.

A Whispering Death.

* * *

 _ **PS-And so enters the Whispering Death, I'll go into why its appeared in upcoming chapters but there is a specific reason. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	20. Chapter 20

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to chapter twenty. This one is largely set in the past and you finally get to see how the cousins first met their dragons. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

The moment the Whispering Death burst from the ground, Toothless and Hookfang were moving.

The Night Fury released a couple of shots, striking the dragon to attract its attention. Hookfang scuttled round the back and, taking advantage of its shift of focus, pounced from behind. The Nightmare brought the enemy dragon crashing down and Toothless hurried over to assist but the Whispering Death was a slippery fellow. Wriggling free of Hookfang's grip, it dodged into the air and flung some of its spines which both dragons dodged.

Until now, Hiccup and Snotlout had stayed out of the fight, watching carefully from the side lines, but the moment the spines embedded in the ground, they darted into the fray. Snotlout rolled underneath the Whispering death, grabbing two spines as he went. He tossed one to Hiccup, who was now near the dragon's tail, and the boy deftly caught it and jabbed the tail.

The dragon roared and slammed his tail down but Hiccup had already moved away and Hookfang was ready and waiting. The Nightmare grabbed the tail in his jaws and used his powerful neck to slam the Whispering Death to the ground, Toothless pinned the head and between them, the two of them had the dragon well pinned. Hiccup and Snotlout approached, holding a spine apiece, but a sudden shout from the arena entrance resounded above everything.

"HICCUP, SNOTLOUT!"

Their eyes looked that way in shock to see Stoick charging towards the pinned dragon, axe in hand. Before either of them could say anything, the Whispering Death spotted the chief and released a sudden burst of fire towards him. Quicker than you could blink, Toothless sprinted over and tackled the man out of the way, saving him from the flames. However, since he was no longer holding the dragon down, the Whispering Death seized the moment and flung Hookfang off. Before anyone could recover, the dragon had dived back below ground, vanishing into the tunnel it had burst forth from.

In the hush that followed, the cousins hurried over to Stoick's side and helped the man to sit back up. He glanced around the arena, "Where did it go!?"

Hiccup nodded to the hole in the floor, "Back underground, he knew things were going against him so he retreated. He'll be back though."

The chief frowned at his son, "It sounds like you've encountered that dragon before?"

Snotlout nodded, "Yeah, we've gone up against that one many times, as have Toothless and Hookfang. He's definitely not one to leave a fight like that, he'll want a rematch."

They became aware of the muttering of the crowd around them and they could see the signs of council members heading their way, most likely to demand answers. Stoick turned to the two of them, "We need to do something about this, we cannot let a dangerous dragon like that roam freely. We need to know everything you know about this dragon and soon, before it comes back."

The two boys shared a look and some sort of agreement passed between them, Hiccup looked back to his father, "We know dad, we'll tell you everything."

* * *

 _Unnamed Island-A few years ago_

The journey had been long and cramped.

Sat in a cage with several other slaves was not a comfortable way to travel but the cousins had long since become used to such things. Some of the other slaves had been muttering horror stories of what was about to happen to them but no one truly knew where they were going. They were transferred from the cage to the hold of a ship which eventually came into dock at a barren, unnamed island, which would soon be their new prison, for a time.

All the slaves were lined up upon the docks, their new captors pacing around them with whips. No one said anything and most kept their heads lowered submissively, Hiccup and Snotlout were at the end of the line, sticking close together as they feared that they might soon be separated.

The Captain appeared and began walking slowly down the line. He stopped at each slave and examined them before giving instructions to his men who'd then take the slaves away, it continued this way until he finally arrived at the two boys.

He eyed them as he spoke, "Ah yes, Bressal's prize Vikings. I've got somewhere special for these two to go." He addressed one of his crew, "Stick them in the lower cave cell, just as a test of their quality." He sneered, "If they survive, they're good enough."

He casually walked off and the cousins just had time to quickly glance at each other before they were dragged towards a series of caves just behind the docks. They were taken past storage caves and down into smaller, darker passages. They'd been hewn straight into the rock and were roughly made; the occasional torch gave light but the place was largely left in shadow. The passage brought them to a larger, well-lit cave with a strong, iron barred grill in its floor.

A man pulled a lever and the grill opened so the boys could be tossed inside, it was a short drop and they both landed hard on the stone floor, their captors last remarks ringing ominously in their ears, "Now we just come back tomorrow to see what's left of them."

Slowly, the two of them recovered and glanced around their new cell fearfully. It sounded like something else was kept down here and they needed to know exactly who their new cell mates were.

A growling sound came from around them and out of the shadows of the cell's far reaches, stepped two creatures they really didn't want to be trapped with.

Dragons.

As young as they were, neither of them remembered much about the dragons that raided Berk, most of the species were simply 'dragon' to them but they remembered enough to recognise the large one as a Monstrous Nightmare. The other one they had no clue what it was, their limited dragon knowledge did not include the jet-black beast in it, only that it looked dangerous.

Immediately, the two boys moved closer together and tensed, ready for an attack, they stared the dragons down who returned it in equal measure. The Nightmare gave another, low growl and took a careful step towards them but the other dragon barked warningly, causing him to move back again. It narrowed its green eyes at them and Snotlout whispered to Hiccup, "What do you think we should do?"

The older boy kept a steady gaze upon their cell mates, "I'm not sure, if they were going to simply kill us, they'd have already attacked. I think they're wary if us, as if unsure of whether we're going to attack or not."

"Shall we back off a bit then?" The younger boy suggested, "Maybe it'll calm them down if we move to the opposite side of the cell, where we're not to close but we can still keep an eye on each other."

Hiccup slowly nodded, "I think we should, let's just back off slowly and hope they don't think we're being aggressive."

Step by step, they backed away to the other side of the cell and the dragons made no move to follow. Carefully, both sides lowered themselves to the floor and sat down, neither one taking their gazes off the other party.

* * *

They continued to watch each other warily.

Hiccup had no idea how long the standoff had lasted, but it must have been several hours.

Tiredness had crept in and the two boys had agreed to watch the dragons in shifts, letting the other one sleep. Currently, Snotlout was resting against his cousin, breathing deeply in slumber. Hiccup had his arms around him protectively, his eyes never leaving the two dragons as he kept to his duty of keeping watch.

On the other side, the Nightmare had also curled up in slumber and the black dragon had curled around its head, resting his own head on top of the Nightmare's. A pair of green eyes bored into Hiccup, indicating that the black dragon was still watching them for his fellow dragon.

Time ticked away and still the two simply stared at each other, slowly, Hiccup's thoughts began to wander as he studied the two dragons.

He couldn't help but feel that the two of them had a very similar relationship to him and Snotlout, the way they curled together was similar to the way he and his cousin always slept back to back and they were taking turns to watch over the other. They hadn't attacked them straight away either, instead waiting for them to make a move. Hiccup wondered if they could maybe settle onto a kind of understanding, the dragons didn't hurt them and they didn't approach the dragons, agree to stay away from the other. It wasn't perfect but it could work.

Snotlout whimpered in his sleep slightly and Hiccup briefly tightened his hold on the boy, his cousin settled, whatever dream that was coming pushed back for the moment, and Hiccup noticed the black dragon widen his eyes slightly. It slowly stood and edged towards them and Hiccup immediately tensed but he noticed that the dragon looked more curious than anything else and let himself relax. He was as curious to find out what was going to happen, he had a feeling it was going to be huge.

The dragon warily took more steps, stopping to stare at Hiccup every time he did so, until he was very close. Hiccup could hear its low breathing and could slightly feel its breath on his face, he stayed as still as he could as the beast brought its head closer and examined the two of them. His eyes were fixed on the dragon's own and he was drawn in by how expressive they were.

He could see its curiosity as it examined them, this then slowly turned into understanding and he was certain the dragon had at least some inkling of their strong connection. Almost without realising it, Hiccup slowly reached out with one hand towards the dragon's head. It narrowed its eyes and moved it back slightly, causing him to stop. He retracted the hand then took a dangerous gamble.

He closed his eyes, turned his head away and held his hand out once more.

For endless moments, he waited with his hand outstretched for something to happen. He didn't see the dragon's eyes widen in surprise nor the way it looked at him as if in a whole new light. Instead, he felt the scaly nose pressed against his palm and the shift of something inside. He opened his eyes and found the dragon willingly touching him and he stared in wonder. The dragon sat back and gave a little huff before turning and padding back towards the Nightmare, settling back down and actually closing its eyes as if to sleep. Hiccup checked on Snotlout, who was entirely oblivious to how close a dragon had just been, and closed his own eyes suddenly feeling that it was safe to do so.

It seemed they had an understanding.

* * *

The days passed and things slowly changed between them and the dragons.

When their captors had checked up on them, they'd been surprised to find both boys still alive and completely unharmed. Their captain had ordered them to throw in food for both them and the dragons and had left them there to see how things turned out.

At first, both parties had sort of avoided each other, they knew the other side wasn't there to hurt them but they didn't want too much contact between them. Then, their captors threw in food for the cousins but not the dragons and Snotlout suddenly decided to share some of his with them. From there, things developed rapidly as both sides started to carefully scope the other out and after Snotlout had an encounter with the Nightmare that was similar to Hiccup's one with the black dragon, they mixed together more.

In time, as they discovered more about their dragon companions, strong bonds built around the initial ones they'd formed were forged and the dragons stopped being 'the dragons' and became 'Toothless and Hookfang' and possibly 'their friends'.

However, their captor was not blind to this development.

* * *

Snotlout landed hard onto the metal floor and he heard Hiccup going through the same beside him. He scrambled to his feet, automatically helping Hiccup as he did so, and glanced around where they'd been tossed.

It was a large, circular arena, a chain roof dominating over it. A single row of stands surrounded it though it was currently empty. His eyes fell upon a large metal barred door which trapped Toothless and Hookfang in the cell behind it. He was about to run to it when the captain's voice rang out.

"Now then, let's see how close these dragons are to you."

Snotlout felt himself grabbed by hefty hands, strong ropes were wrapped around his body and soon he and Hiccup were tightly bound back to back. They automatically gripped each other's hands and didn't bother to test their bonds, they knew they were too tight to escape from. Those who'd bound them hurriedly left the arena and they looked up to where the captain stood in the stands, just beyond the chain roof. He smirked down, "Well, those dragons didn't like us doing that."

In their cell, Toothless and Hookfang were snarling and growling, they'd started the moment the boys had been grabbed and were knocking their bodies against the bars, determined to get out and help them. For some reason, the captain seemed happy about this and his grin grew wider, "This could work out very well, now let's see their performance."

Another door rattled open and there was horrific roar and a long, serpentine dragon burst out of the cell, it madly glanced about the arena with bloodshot eyes and the captain laughed, "The Whispering Death, one of the most aggressive dragons I have! I wonder how your two will fare against it?"

The dragon's wild eyes focused upon them and it saw a helpless target, it roared and charged towards them, baring its rotating rows of countless teeth but before it got close a purple-blue blast knocked it to the side. Toothless bounded across the arena from his newly opened cell and planted himself right in front of the two cousins, giving forth his own roar at the Whispering Death.

The opposing dragon snarled back but it hadn't realised that Hookfang was also present and it was blindsided as the Nightmare pounced upon it, the Whispering Death lashed out with its tail and scored several deep scratches upon its assailant. Hookfang yelped in pain and released it but Toothless released several plasma blasts to cover him, the enemy dragon launched several spines that bounced across the metal floor as Toothless dodged them.

As the battle raged, Hiccup and Snotlout took actions of their own. Though their upper bodies were tightly bound together, their legs had been left completely free granting them movement. Being bound back to back meant they had to work in tandem to make use of this but that was something that had become second nature a long time ago.

They got themselves over to one of the scattered spines and used their feet to pass it to their waiting hands. Moving their bound hands in unison, they used the spine's sharp edge to cut through the ropes holding them and they soon fell away leaving them free. Grabbing more spines, they soon had two apiece and they charged towards the fray yelling to their dragons as they went.

"TOOTHLESS!"

"HOOKFANG!"

As both dragons spotted the boys heading their way, understanding suddenly sparked between them all and they had a plan.

Toothless released another barrage of blasts to distract the Whispering Death as Hookfang scrambled towards Snotlout, Hiccup darted round behind the dragon and lashed out with one of his spines, leaving a long gash. As it reared up, Hookfang grabbed Snotlout and tossed him powerfully upwards, the boy threw his two spines at the Whispering Death's face, scoring two hits upon its snout. Toothless shot in out of nowhere and grabbed the boy, getting them both well away from the dragon as Hookfang grabbed its body and used all his strength to slam it to the ground.

The floor shook as it hit hard and the impact knocked the Whispering Death out completely.

Silence reigned as the two boys stared at their defeated foe, slowly realising that they'd just worked with two dragons to survive. Slowly, grins spread across their faces and they looked to the dragons, there was a moment's pause and they were all about to charge and hug each other in elation when darts fired from out of nowhere.

They struck home upon Toothless and Hookfang and both dragons staggered and fell to the ground themselves. Hiccup and Snotlout ran towards them and knelt at their sides, the captain spoke out once more, "What a performance! Truly, that was a most excellent show!"

The cousins found themselves surrounded by armed men and they saw the captain leading them, he clapped slowly, "And you two were as impressive as the dragons, escaping your bonds and joining the fray. Yes, I most certainly can make use of you all."

He gestured to the arena stands grandly, "You will draw crowds to our shows like nothing else, the Viking barbarians engaged in monumental trials alongside two of the most powerful species of dragons, the Monstrous Nightmare and the Night Fury!" He smiled, "The Ringmaster will be most pleased with this."

The boys found themselves grabbed once again and metal collars were snapped around their necks, these were attached to chains that were used to lead them out of the arena as the captain gave commands, "Take both the boys and the dragons and put them on the ship bound for the Great Arena, keep them together but make sure they cannot escape. If we lose them, we lose our lives."

* * *

 _ **PS-And once again in the past, they're being taken somewhere else while in the present day a Whispering Death is wreaking havoc. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	21. Chapter 21

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and I'm finally updating this fic after a very long time. This keeps going with the arc that started a couple of chapters ago and shows a little more of Snotlout and Hiccup's past, though it is shorter than normal. Thank you all for your patience and support of this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

 _The Great Arena-A few years ago_

Swarms of people, chattering with excitement, poured along the docks to the Great Arena.

It was the heart of the empire's entertainment world, where all the greatest shows were gathered and presented to the eager populace. It was built upon a beautiful island that boasted the best in just about everything leisure-wise, it had beaches, shows, food, just about anything the empire could offer for recreation. It was the one place that every empire citizen wished to visit at least once in their lives and the Great Arena was the crown jewel in its vast treasury.

It held a massive variety of shows and demonstrations, plays, sporting events, musical performances, fights and even full naval battle recreations. It drew crowds from all over the empire and those who graced the sands of its performance area became empire-wide celebrities, gaining fame and even fortune. One of the arena's attractions was its dragon fights, either dragon against dragon or dragon against man. However, Hiccup and Snotlout's arrival caused a change in these fights that was rapidly becoming popular.

* * *

Peering through the bars of their cell, Snotlout watched the crowds clamouring past on their way to their seats.

There was some sort of major sporting event happening that day and it was taking up the entire arena schedule, putting him on something of a day off. As slaves, he and Hiccup didn't really have 'days off', they weren't in the arena every day but they were still giving other work. Hiccup had been recruited into the arena forge (fights were a popular attraction so weapons were always in high demand) while Snotlout was something of a poster boy, often posing and performing to the crowds that were waiting outside to advertise their next event. Today however, he wasn't needed to do that since the sports were taking all the limelight, leaving him sat in his cell doing not a lot.

A rough snout nudged him in the back and he gave a small smile and turned around, "There's masses of them out there as usual Hookfang, though there seems to be a lot more than normal. These sports must be a huge deal."

The Nightmare snorted slightly and nudged him away from the tiny, barred window. Patting his dragon's snout, Snotlout made his way over to Toothless, who was sat staring intently at their cell door, waiting for Hiccup to return. The older boy had been taken to man the forge and, as expected, the Night Fury couldn't relax until he'd returned. Snotlout sat beside the dragon and scratched him gently behind one of his ear flaps, the Night Fury rumbled and gave him a brief glance but kept his focus on the door.

They stayed that way for some time until Toothless' ear flaps suddenly perked up and Snotlout smiled knowingly.

Moments later, the cell door swung open and Hiccup was hurriedly ushered in before it was slammed shut behind him. In an instant, Toothless was up and nuzzling the boy and Hiccup laughed slightly as he treated the dragon to a load of scratches. Without thought, Hiccup made his way over to his cousin and promptly sat so they were back to back, even as Snotlout spoke, "They sent you back earlier than I thought."

The older boy shrugged, "The forgemaster wanted to see the games so he let us pack up early, everything we needed to have done was finished anyway." He briefly glanced over his shoulder, "I thought they'd have had you out advertising to the crowds."

This time it was Snotlout's turn to shrug, "Everyone's too occupied with the sports today, I don't think they had anyone spare to parade me in front of them." He started scratching Hookfang's neck, "I don't even know what our next 'show' is."

"Oh, I found that out today." Hiccup sighed, "It's another 'Snotlout in distress' performance."

The younger boy groaned, "Again! What's with the Ringmaster and those ones? We've had those three times over the last five performances!"

"It's because everyone loves them." The older cousin answered, "They all love seeing you in peril and, for them at least, it adds to the drama." He scowled, "I'm also pretty sure the Ringmaster has his own personal 'preferences' in his entertainment."

"Oh, he certainly has those." Snotlout squirmed and hugged his knees, "The way he looks at me makes it pretty clear."

Hiccup reached back and gently squeezed his hand, "I know, but after this one, we're doing a week-long series for the summer festival and it has no 'Snotlout in distress' scenarios anywhere in sight."

He sensed Snotlout smile, "That's good." There was a pause, "I probably won't like this but what is the upcoming scenario?"

Hiccup sighed, "Basically, you've been kidnapped by some bandit king to be used as bait in a convoluted trap and me, Toothless and Hookfang swoop in to save you from an evil dragon. In short, you're probably going to spend most of the performance tied up and only really freed to help in the big battle."

"And which one is the 'evil dragon'?"

The older boy grimaced, "The Whispering Death."

"Just great!"

* * *

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

"So, you've fought against this dragon loads of times before to _entertain_ people!?"

Hiccup simply nodded in response to his father's question while Snotlout answered verbally, "Yeah, it's what the empire used dragons for. They didn't know how to train them so they put them into fights to entertain the masses."

Stoick frowned, "And now its followed you both all the way here to settle a grudge?"

Again, Hiccup nodded, "Everytime we faced that dragon in the arena, we've beaten it and it remembers that. It must have escaped the same time we did and eventually found us here."

Alsvid leaned forward, "So what you're saying is that this dragon won't stop attacking until its either dealt with or kills you."

Snotlout affirmed his statement, "Yep."

Stormlegs scratched his head, "Well then, why don't we try training it?"

"It won't work."

Stoick looked at his son in shock, surprised to hear him so quickly dismiss befriending a dragon. Beliptyr Thorston frowned, "What makes you so certain?"

Hiccup looked down sadly, "Because he's tasted human flesh and when a dragon does that, there's no going back."

Behind him, Toothless and Hookfang gave mournful rumbles and Stoick sensed a deeper story behind his words. However, it was Spitelout who gently prodded the issue, "What do you mean?"

Snotlout was pointedly looking down as if ashamed of something and Hiccup briefly glanced at him before answering, "We discovered that when a dragon eats human flesh, intentionally or not, it starts to become almost addicted to it. They start craving it and while they'll happily survive on normal meats and fish, they will attempt to feast on humans when they can." Toothless gently nuzzled his rider, offering him comfort as he continued speaking, "The empire didn't just use the dragons for fights, they also fed sentenced prisoners to them to entertain the people as well as act as a warning. Toothless and Hookfang were thankfully spared such a thing but that Whispering Death has certainly eaten people before. We saw it ourselves when we were first brought to the Great Arena, it was a demonstration of our punishment should we try and escape."

There were shocked gasps from the gathered council and Hiccup fixed them with an intense stare, "As long as it's around, that Whispering Death will not stop attacking and it won't be long before it starts trying to eat members of the tribe, its focused on me and Snotlout at the moment but it won't be able to ignore its cravings long."

He gently stroked Toothless' head apologetically before continuing, "We have to stop it before it kills someone, while its focus is still on me and Snotlout, and I'm afraid that we can't train it and simply driving it away won't be enough. We need to end this…"

His gaze darkened.

"…permanently!"

* * *

 _ **PS-As you might've realised, this arc looks at the issue of a dragon that is a danger but can't be trained, relocated or driven away. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	22. Chapter 22

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello and welcome to the chapter. This one is largely set in the past, showing more of their time at the Great Arena. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

 _The Great Arena-A few years ago_

Snotlout gazed over the sea of faces surrounding him.

He and Hiccup were currently outside the arena itself, advertising their upcoming performance via a scene designed to set the story for the main event.

Initially, their fights alongside Toothless and Hookfang had literally just been fights, then, the Ringmaster had organised a one-off, story-driven special that had been a roaring success. Knowing they were onto a good thing, more story-based scenarios were created and the adventures of the Viking barbarians and their dragons had grown into a huge hit. Though still slaves, Hiccup, Snotlout, Toothless and Hookfang had become celebrities, their names widely spread across the Empire.

Unfortunately, their 'characters' weren't exactly what they wanted.

Hiccup was usually in the role of the noble hero while Snotlout was often in the 'damsel in distress' part to begin with. Most of the time his 'bit' involved bondage of some sort and they were both well aware that this was exactly how the Ringmaster wanted it. Apparently, this was also what the crowds liked since scenarios involving him being captured proved most popular, it spoke a lot to the mindset of many in the Empire.

Speaking of which, he was due to be 'kidnapped' soon.

He could see the 'Bandit King' and his flunkies lurking in the wings of the outdoor stage they were using (more slaves being forced to play a part) and he prepared for the inevitable. Hiccup was several feet in front of him, giving his whole heroic speech to explain what was currently happening in the story and give an excuse as to why Toothless and Hookfang weren't around (it was a lot harder to keep the dragons under control outside the arena). As he moved to the front of the stage, Snotlout felt a hand clamp over his mouth as strong arms wrapped around his torso and he started overexaggerating his struggles. The crowd gasped (seriously, didn't they know this was coming?) and the children shouted excitedly as the 'bandits' dragged him off-stage. He was passed onto the arena guards who shepherded him off to a small cell to await that night's performance.

Usually, when he was 'kidnapped' like this, they kept him separate from the others because it got the dragons anxious which led to a more realistic response from them and a better show. It was a long boring wait until he was collected and then placed in whatever perilous position he was supposed to be in, but he never knew exactly what they'd do to him until it started.

They pushed him inside the cell and Snotlout immediately trundled over to the rough blanket in the corner and sat down, waiting for the show to start.

* * *

The crowd roared with excitement as Hiccup strode into the arena, flanked by Toothless and Hookfang. The boy however, ignored them and his eyes darted around, searching for his cousin.

He didn't know how the arena would be laid out nor what position Snotlout would be in before entering. The Ringmaster did this to make the situation as real as possible, the cousins had to improvise from the moment the scene started and Hiccup's top priority was always checking that the younger boy was okay.

The arena had been filled with towering rock formations and he spotted Snotlout hanging from the top of the furthest, tallest one. Predictably, he'd been bound and gagged and him being suspended up in the air made his rescue difficult.

The boy squirmed and grunted into his gag twice, this was how he signalled to Hiccup that he was fine but it also had the effect of adding to the scene by making the crowd think he was struggling to escape or trying to call for help. While the older cousin wanted to save him right away, he had a role to play first.

Striding forward, he spoke out in a confident voice, "Bandit King! Release my friend!"

The 'Bandit King', stood on top of the tallest rock, laughed, playing his role as the villain, "Never, oh great hero."

The stories written for their performances were hardly great works of drama but they weren't the main feature, that was the inevitable fight with one or more of the arena dragons, the story was merely a means to an end. Hiccup mounted Toothless, "Release him unharmed or face the wrath of my Night Fury!"

Toothless knew his role and gave a deep growl to emphasise the point, Hookfang also growled, but he kept his gaze fixed upon his rider, ready to fly to the rescue at a moment's notice. The 'Bandit King' laughed once more, "Then come and save him! If you can do so before he's eaten."

A gate at the far end swung open and a familiar, ferocious roar echoed through the arena. The Whispering Death shot out and right up to the chain dome that kept them from the stands, it roared at the cheering crowd before focusing its manic eyes upon those in the arena.

The moment it had appeared, Hiccup and Toothless were moving. They knew it would quickly go for the defenceless Snotlout so they had to get its attention immediately. While they headed straight for it, Hookfang swung wide to blindside it when they attacked and soon, the enemy dragon was forced to defend itself from the assault.

The Whispering Death was a slippery foe and it needed both dragons to keep it properly pressured, this meant that they had to leave the bound Snotlout where he was but as long as they kept the dragon occupied, he'd be safe. However, this didn't mean that Snotlout himself wasn't doing his part.

The moment the fight started, the boy began twisting his hands furiously, trying to get them loose. Depending on who bound him, he could sometimes free himself and assist in the fight earlier. Unfortunately, with him being suspended like this, he couldn't undo too many ropes otherwise he'd endure a likely fatal fall. However, if they timed it right, he could release himself and fall safely onto either Toothless or Hookfang but it wasn't to be this time. The Ringmaster had been the one who'd bound him and he always made sure he couldn't get himself free.

He gave one long shout into his gag, signalling to Hiccup that he needed help in getting free. The older cousin heard and quickly formulated a plan.

With a quick series of signals to Hookfang, he gave his commands and the Nightmare broke away to obey. The boy and Toothless followed swiftly behind, diving downwards beneath Snotlout. The Whispering Death was right behind them and they would all need perfect timing.

Hookfang snapped the rope Snotlout hung from with his powerful jaws and the boy plummeted down, Toothless was right in position and the younger cousin landed neatly in front of Hiccup, only giving a muffled grunt at the impact. Hookfang dived down and slammed into the Whispering Death, he engaged the dragon to buy some time and Toothless landed upon one of the stone formations.

The first thing Hiccup did was remove Snotlout's gag and the younger boy spat out the cloths in his mouth with a grimace, "Ergh…why can't they use clean cloths for this?"

"You know they just use the old rags for your gags." The older boy answered as he freed his cousin's hands.

"Yeah but they could at least clean them." Snotlout responded, "I've had them stuffed in my mouth for hours!"

"What!?"

The younger boy sighed, "The Ringmaster did his usual 'we need to have you in position early' trick. I've been hanging up there since before the first members of the audience arrived!"

As Hiccup undid the last of the ropes, he winced at the marks they left behind. Snotlout seemed unbothered and he hopped off Toothless, with a single nod, they agreed on their plan and Snotlout shot off towards where Hookfang was wrestling with the Whispering Death on the ground.

The key thing about the performance was that while the storytelling bit was invented, the fight was very real. If they didn't win, they'd likely die and they couldn't afford that.

* * *

 _Isle of Berk-Present_

Snotlout and Hiccup sat silently in the older cousin's room.

The younger boy spoke quietly, "We really have to do this, don't we? We have to kill that dragon."

Hiccup simply nodded, "That Whispering Death is beyond saving, you remember all our fights against it and you know what human flesh does to dragons."

Snotlout hugged his knees, "I know, but it doesn't make it easier. Every time I think about what we have to do, I remember him."

"So, do I." Hiccup turned sad eyes upon the floor, "We all remember him."

Toothless crooned and rubbed his head against Hiccup, while Hookfang rumbled comfortingly from where he was peering in the window. Silence fell and it dragged on until it was broken by an audible sniff from Snotlout.

Automatically, Hiccup turned and pulled his cousin into a hug, not mentioning the dampness on the boy's cheeks. As always, they sat in silence, simply letting themselves be comforted.

Though neither cried out loud, tears showed clearly on their faces.

* * *

 _ **PS-Any guesses as to who they're talking about. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


End file.
